Submit your Article

Street art is any form of art that has developed in a public place. Moreover, the art in the street to express the feeling is street art. Easiest and the most effective way to endure messages concerned to political ideology, social issues and confrontation on the street walls are street art. It has its own glory.  In this post modern era open platform is street. There are different forms of street art that includes graffiti artwork, stencil, stickers’ cot, street poster art. Street art has its own history too.  At first it was the stencils which have a parallel history with graffiti. It has become the instrument for socio-political activities for those who declared themselves as powerful agents to change existing society with heavy weight messages.  In this context Banksy, as an anonymous England based street artist, political activist, was tagged as the world's first street art disaster movie debut in 2010.   

It conveyed the quick message to all. That is why street art earned its place in the contemporary art world.  Some of the earliest expressions of street art where graffiti started sharing ideas up on the side of cars, trains walls which were the works of gangs of New York in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Street art and graffiti has become the ephemeral movement in the then period of time. The street has waved to different parts of the world from the western world. Among the street artists we have to take Bansky’s name that comes first. 

There are several famous street art among Berlin Street Art by JR pictured in Berlin on 16 April 2013. A man named Francisco Rodriguos da Silva, known as Nunca in the neighborhood of Sao Paulo on 7th April 2008 was the best mural artist. A mural of Nelson Mandela by Graffiti artist Mark 1 on 7th 2013 in cape town in South Africa is well known of that time. A mural by Del Kathryn Burton entitled ‘The Whole of Evening’ which adores the side of an apartment block is found as the glorious example of street art in central Melbourne on 8 July 2008. Till 2013 the street art was able to expose cultural phenomena from Lisbon, Moscow, Los Angeles, Bogota, Bethlehem, Palestine and the rest of the world.          

Back home before the people’s movement the wall of street of Kathmandu was just for the politicians.  It was a message to the public written ‘bandha’ and the slogans of politicians.  The wall was for the movie posters too.  Nonetheless, we see the same wall is packed by the art work today.  It shows the positive symptoms in society.  

The movement of Street Art in Nepal is not new though the visit of international street artist Bruno Levy in 2011 gave all the shape to the wall with colorful messages. His attempt to beautify the street of Kathmandu through the big project watched by our youths around the valley has become a source of inspiration to all.  Henceforth, at present youths are self reliant to attach to the wall giving the vivid expression in the socio political issues of postmodernism in Nepal. The satirical doctrine of Street Art has become the ultimate platform to warn the leaders that epoch like the tsunami.  

The graffiti is writing, painting in public places especially on the wall.  It is concerned with the permission of owners. If not permitted to draw on the wall it becomes like vandalism, otherwise with the permission it becomes street art. Moreover, most importantly graffiti with permission is mural art. Both are real pieces of art directly applied to the wall, so, I consider it as the applied form of Art at present, where I stand and view Laxman Shrestha as a street artist with his  team. He started his journey from Nepaljung as a young and energetic street artist.  

Emergence of youths on the wall has forced the government to take some actions to do something for the artist. Today’s artists, on one hand, come up with traditional art and its value along with contemporary art; whereas there is a great pressure on the artist because of the influence of globalization. Despite the confused circumstances the new theme of art has developed in the Nepali art field. They have picked up on socioeconomic conditions, unstable politics and psychic behavior of people as the agenda in front of common people. It has become the easiest way to convey the message to the citizens of a country. It was the dream of  artist Laxman Sherstha to have to come on the wall from different corners of the country. 

Despite the fact, there are several street artists amongst them Shraddha Sherstha, Kalo 1o1, Sadhu, ArtLab, Artudio and many more young artists who contributed in this field.  Nonetheless, Kathmandu Metropolitan city recently had agreements with Nepal Academy of Fine Art to complete numerous murals in the different parts of the city within mid-June 2024. Thanks to mayor Balen Shah declaring and finding the importance of Street Art has separated the budget to complete street art within the special areas of Kathmandu.

Of course yes, the whole world knows what a rainbow is. ‘Do you know what primary colors are’? Art teacher (Sonam Sherpa) asked me when I was in class five. I reckon those days, no burden, nothing to do, just time pass. Just play and read (not all the time). Life was full of excitement; but something was there which haunted me badly in those days. It was an economic burden to my parents…  

I replied immediately: Blue, red and yellow.  The whole world is colorful because of these three primary colors.  All other colors, which we find in nature, are the gift of them (primary colors).  

Let us open the window, see outside or go upstairs at the rooftop (terrace), or go down to the ground (garden may be). Look up, high in the sky, what do we find? A glance of clear blue sky with its depth: Floating cotton white clouds. Anything more can we see?  Yes, sometimes birds fly, another man made things (airplanes). What a peculiar creation! Blue, deep and calm. If you put down your eyes just in front of you, an age-old green tree stands full of historical facts.  In fact, the hills are alive because of the green.  The ground is matted with green carpet of meadows where cattle graze.

If you wake up early in the morning before dawn, keep your eyes toward the eastern sky, there you find Dog Star (Sirius), just above the colorful rays of the sun painted in the sky. Slowly and gradually, the sun appears shining from the horizon with glittering golden colors. But there is a saying in English ‘all that glitters is not gold’. Then what is it?  Something that is a thousand times more precious than gold. That’s beautiful nature. Beautiful morning, it is an orange too—a combination of red and yellow. There is a perfect color blend and balance in nature. Who is the great artist, the creator of this wonderful and colorful world?  Do you know?  Nobody knows, in fact, some may say there is supernatural power. What is that power? Where does it exist? It’s in heaven or hell? Is that God?  It’s too complex a question to answer. Exactly so, to me,  when we think of heaven we feel happy. It’s full of yellow—enchantment whereas hell is something dark, no progress, and the heart is full of jealousy, hatred, chaos and anxiety (like that of Nepali political system).  

One of my friends came rushing to me and said that he got the green signal from his lover. Green has a symbolic meaning. Every color has a symbolic meaning. We celebrate numerous festivals where Red has become the ‘role model’ color to express the meaning of every cultural trait.  

Children on Dec 25 night wait for an aged Santa Claus with a red suit having a silvery white bear as a gift of blessings. It is a colorful night of excitement and joy to the world of Christianity. 

In fact, nobody likes to live in a world without colors.  When we are sad there is supposed to be gray more than that gloomy dark color (maybe Hungarian poet’s gloomy Sunday). We can’t decolorize colors.  How to express feelings? It is easy for the artists. Abstract paintings are full of abstract feeling having vivid expressions. It studies the psychic behavior of human beings. So, it is color psychology or color phenomenology, which studies human behavior, aptitude, and so on. 

Color plays a vital role in the life of every individual. We say ‘black beauty’. Do you think black is beautiful?  Here comes the graceful girl; black may be graceful, fun loving but not beautiful! That’s what you think? She looks beautiful because of her white and rosy face, having a lean and thin body; what we call zero-size figures.  If a man (female too) is judged by color and race, what will be the condition of African countries? Among the flowers, the sunflower is quite big.  It is a yellow-colored flower, in great demand in the world market today.  It is not because of its color, nor because of oil preparation. 

“Sunflower” the greatest impressionist painting gift to the world by Vincent Van Gog. What can we give to others if anyone asks us? Van Gog gave his ear to his beloved, though she had just joked! He gave red to her. She was startled and confused and rejected his true, colorful love.  He later committed suicide; nonetheless, he was the world-renowned artist, who lives in the heart of scholars and artists around the world.  

‘What a sweet smile’ is the colorful expression of all young and old, hermit or professors, scientists or politicians, philosophers or doctors.  It is the greatest gift of nature to human beings. No other creature possesses the art of smiling. That’s why we are always full of colors and enchantment. Thus, we understand the language of smile; hence colors speak all languages.