CHENNAI: Weathered over time, statues, museums, and heritage buildings with neat inscriptions contain histories, dates, and memories of cities over decades. But to delve deeper, snippets of conversation and faded walls with overlapping peeling posters capture shifting politics, parties, cinema heroes, and so on. The art of posters — dating back to 15th century Britain – has always carried unofficial records of the past, and references to present culture.
Using posters as a medium, artist Shiva Ravishankar’s artwork with caption tells a story of namma ooru — crowds vying in Bilal for oru bun-butter-jam, a walk to the kovil through narrow lanes, or a trip to tje ever-peaceful Santhome Church. His bright posters, sketched in markers, capture moments in the city and have found a home on the walls of different parts of the city. Lucky passersby who chance upon Shiva’s art may can take home this piece of nostalgia.
This series, titled the ‘Chennai in Posters’ project initially began as a way to cover monuments and their essence. I’ve had this idea for two-three years. Now my boards got over. Since I was moving to Bangalore to study further, I wanted to keep a sketchbook for culturally important aspects,” explains the 18-year-old.
Shiva’s attempt to affectionately commit his city to memory, personal and collective, started naturally amid the sea and sand at Marina Beach. His first piece of art in pastel blue and red spotlighted the ‘Triumph of Labour’ bronze statue, paying homage to India’s first May Day rally. The behind-the-scenes found a place in an Instagram reel, eventually going viral with 85K views.
Sketching memories
During daily walks, Shiva kept an eye out for moments that sparked an interest and at night, he turned to his markers to create art. According to the artist, “The idea was how could I elevate something from a sketch to a poster to make it more relatable. You don’t look at it as a piece of art, it’s something that happens to you everyday. The main aspect of the city is the people; people here are welcoming, and they’re the sweetest.”
Soon, ‘Chennai in Posters’ grew and now contains 16 posters, such a yellow poster of an auto ride and the caption ‘Anna GPay ok ah?’, and a shopkeeper owner pouring hot tea and a caption: ‘Na, 2 inji tea’. Shiva adds, that mixing Tamil and English in the posters was personal as his daily lingo is similar, with a colloquial tinge. Once the series hit seven posters, the artist, accompanied by a friend, began sticking it up in different areas. Appreciation messages, comments, and DMs flooded the artist’s social media. These nostalgia-filled posts yielded messages like ‘kovil polama has my whole heart’ or ‘I need more tea art. Oh, my Madras, my heart, my love. I miss you the most’.
Using markers, Shiva’s art aims to blend the contemporary and classical. Shiva’s interest in art was kindled as a four-year-old, watching his mother intricately crafting Thanjavur paintings. “It was a meticulous thing and I would never have the patience to do that, I saw what she did, and I used to ape it a lot.”
Now, as a teenager, he hopes to make art accessible. “Not everyone can look at nice paintings in a museum. A lot of art we see on reels is at least two flights away, and I want to make it accessible. It’s the job of artists in Chennai and India to make it more accessible.” But before he moves to college, these posters are bound to appear in nooks and corners of the city.