CONCOR office building on the right with the Indian Flag in front
We are at the largest dry port in Asia — ICD (Inland Container Depot) Tughlakabad, Okhla. When I enter the compound, from the way I’m dressed the parking guy recognizes that I’m not one of the usual faces arriving at CONCOR, but one of the visitors to this strange new thing in the compound. Just a month back it used to be a parking space for them, but some new faces are collecting there every day, painting random shipping containers. For me also, this is an unusual place to see an art exhibition.
25 Artists 100 Shipping Container 1000 Litres of paint 1 City of changesThe name of this exhibition is ‘Work in Progress Show’ or WIP Show — signifying the spirit of Delhi where some sort of construction is always in progress. Quite literally also, these artists will be working on their creations on the site throughout the time of this exhibition. For the purpose, 31,200 sq ft. of ICD has been transformed into a walk-through installation of murals. It opens up for general public on 1st February and it will remain so till the end of February, where 25 street art specialists from different countries will be collecting, coloring 100 containers with their imagination. WIP Show is a part of ongoing Street Art Festival in Delhi.
Calendar of the events on Sunday at WIP Show. (taken from the website)
The show retains its roots of street art by having a space that is constantly transforming — unlike the usual static experience of an art gallery or museum. Through WIP, St+art India Foundation aims to create an art-hub in an unexpected space to offer diverse sectors of society newer experiences, especially to people who are usually excluded from the reach of art.
The Astronaut by NEVERCREW
Quite natural to the exhibition, the entry is made through a shipping container, which is open from both sides. Once I’m there, I’m greeted by a large scale mural of an astronaut on 3 vertically stacked shipping containers. I’ve never seen anything like this before. I keep staring at it for minutes. I return back from my internal monologue when the guard gives me an orange colored brochure at the entry gate. The brochure has details about the layout of this space with a paragraph on WIP:
WIP — The nature of the city, of space, of street art.
New Delhi is always under construction, always transforming, it is a continuous work in progress. WIP celebrates this essence of an ever-changing city by having a space that is constantly evolving.
This is an open lab, a peek into the artist’s process. Over the next month several more artists will join the show and create artworks onsite.
WIP Show brochure with details of the exhibition.
Workers at ICD TKD are looking at the pictures of previous street art festivals in Delhi / Mumbai, exhibited at the venue.
While entering the exhibition, I was happy to see that most of the people had written ‘ICD’ in the ‘from’ column of the entry register I was signing.
Sadhu Sutra by Harsh Raman
1000 faces by Nafir
Another interesting bit about this exhibition is that once it is closed, all the shipping containers here shall remain painted and travel in India for transporting goods. Isn’t it amazing?
Borondo’s Art
Breathe by Daku
Left — Agostino Iacurci, Center — Amitabh Kumar, Right — Anpu Varkey
Niels Shoe Meulman’s work
Anpu Varkey’s work
Matruka by Harshvardhan Kadam
Exit Door
The shipping container below is a special one. It was painted by a Delhi based sign painter — Shabbu. Before it was kept in this exhibition, this container transported bananas all across India. On the other side, Shabbu has painted over 1000 fruit stalls in and around Delhi in his career.
