MADURAI: All art is political, but never more so than the symbols that blossom on concrete nearer to the polls in Tamil Nadu. In the quiet dawn in rural and semi-urban districts across the state, seasoned artists work in the shadows to saturate blank walls with party iconography before the morning rush begins. In less than 30 minutes, a bare surface becomes a campaign pitch. But this once admired craft, which provided a steady canvas and livelihood for hundreds, now struggles for survival with its patron base reduced to a trickle.
With TN’s poll season getting louder with vehicles propped up with LED displays and viral videos on social media, the shift has been stark for the once-thriving artists. What used to be weeks of steady work, long nights, and walls lined up has now shrunken into scattered assignments, mostly on the outskirts of urban areas and villages, where parties still believe that a wall painting can speak louder than a printed flex.
Su Aadhavan, an artist with over 42 years of experience, told TNIE, “Earlier, hundreds would be engaged in political wall painting. Now, most of those campaigns have shifted to digital platforms. With restrictions on political wall paintings within the city limits, we now have to travel to villages and outskirts for work. Even then, getting permissions and wall space is not easy.”
Aadhavan, who is also a member of the painters’ wing of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), said the group still has around 100 members in Madurai involved in political painting work. “Beyond income, many of us also see it as our contribution to the party. During elections, we travel together to different districts to paint for candidates of alliance parties, often without expecting payment,” he added.
Another artist, Saravanan, said, “This is what the elections used to look like. Now everything is digital. But a painted wall still has life. People stop and look at it.” He recalled that earlier, painters would spend an entire day on one large wall. He said, “Now we mostly paint smaller murals, usually around 10x5 inches, party symbols, and candidates’ names. We finish a wall in 20-30 minutes and move to the next.” On a busy day, he said, artists may cover up to 60 walls across a constituency, travelling long distances between locations. “We earn around Rs 2,000 a day. Today, we started in Thirumangalam and have to reach Peraiyur before the day ends,” he said.
Kathiravan, another artist, said, “Many have moved to private painting jobs. Some have taken up poll-related government contract work,” he said.
Even so, the artists insist that digital campaigning has not erased the appeal of the craft. A hand-painted wall carries with it the visible labour, and is unmistakably human. And in a poll season increasingly shaped by screens, these artists continue to move from village to village, keeping alive a fading but enduring piece of TN’s political tradition.