Hanif Kureshi

Hanif Kureshi
Kureshi in 2023
Born	(1982-10-12)12 October 1982 Palitana, Gujarat, India
Died	22 September 2024(2024-09-22) (aged 41) Goa, India
Alma mater	Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda
Known for	Street art and design
Notable work	Lodhi Art District; Handpainted Type Project
Style	Street art, murals, live installations

Hanif Kureshi (12 October 1982 – 22 September 2024) was an Indian artist, designer, and advertising professional. He was the co-founder of the St+art India Foundation. Kureshi was a prominent figure in India's street art movement, transforming urban spaces into public canvases. Some of his notable projects included the street art at the Lodhi Art District in Delhi and at the Sassoon Dock art project in Mumbai. His works were also part of Delhi Metro and Bangalore Metro.

Kureshi was born on 12 October 1982 in Palitana, a town in the Bhavnagar district of Gujarat.^[1][2] He graduated with a degree in arts from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. It was here that he developed an interest in typography and street art. His early experiences with hand-painted signage in India's streets would later become handy in his creative career.^[3][4]

Kureshi began his professional career in advertising, starting with the advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather in 2003 where he went on to be a senior art director. He later moved to the advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy in 2008. He later left the advertising world to focus on street art and sign painting.^[5]

In 2013, Kureshi co-founded the St+art India Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting street art across India. The foundation worked on transforming neighbourhoods through large-scale murals and street art installations.^[6][7] One of foundation's notable projects was the Lodhi Art District in Delhi, one of India's first open-air public art districts, which features over 60 murals created by national and international artists.^[4][5][8] The foundation went on to start seven art districts across the country including in Mahim in Mumbai, Nochi in Chennai, and Ukkadam in Coimbatore.^[4][9]

Kureshi's art blended traditional Indian aesthetics with modern public art practices. His murals often incorporated elements of Indian culture, including typographic works that played with regional languages and local traditions. His large-scale public art pieces can be seen in various Indian cities, including murals at Delhi's metro stations and the Sassoon Dock art project in Mumbai.^[4][8] Some of his other works were part of the Bangalore Metro, the Churchgate railway station in Mumbai, and the streets of Panaji in Goa.^[8] Some of his works were noted as a commentary on the socio-economic situation in the country including increasing wealth inequality, urban apathy, and an emerging water crisis in the country's major cities.^[10][11][12]

Kureshi started the HandpaintedType project as an attempt to preserve typographic practices and styles from Indian street sign painters.^[1][13]

Some of his collaborations included ones with the France-based American artist JonOne who was a founder member of Crew 156, and other artists including Bond and Zine.^[14] In some of his art, he played with light and shadows to render the art and messages. Speaking about his approach to street art, he would note his practice of using SketchUp, a 3D modeling software, on Google Maps Street View images. His earlier street work was considered more cynical and pseudonymous with him often using stealth to render graffiti and other street messaging, an approach that he moved away from in the latter part of his career.^[14] His early work also included stenciled art with often provocative messages. This had some calling him the "Banksy of India" referring to the pseudonymous English graffiti artist Banksy, a comparison that he rejected.^[15][16] Many of his works during this period spoke against moral and cultural policing, urban issues including garbage management and water crises, and political activism.^[16][17][18]

Kureshi's work was exhibited at international art events and venues, including the London Design Biennale, Venice Biennale, Centre Pompidou in Paris, Triannale Design Museum in Milan, and also at the India Art, Architecture and Design Biennale at the Red Fort in Delhi.^{[19][20][6][21]} In June 2024, he held a solo exhibition at Wildstyle Gallery in Sweden, a few months before his death.^[19]

Sources:'^{[10][14][22][23][24][25]}

Kureshi was married to his wife Rutva. The couple had a son.^[10]

Kureshi died after a 15-month battle with lung cancer in Goa, on 22 September 2024, at the age of 41.^[3][4]

• 
  Lodhi Art District, Delhi
• 
  Lodhi Art District, Delhi
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  Sasson Docks Art Project, Mumbai
• 
  Sasson Docks Art Project, Mumbai

• Lodhi Art District on Google Arts & Culture
• ST+ART India Foundation on Google Arts & Culture
• Hanif Kureshi: Reclaiming Public Spaces for Art and Social Change on YouTube