Kerala local body polls: Writing on the wall is clear, charm of poll graffiti doesn’t fade

The good-old election graffiti are here to stay, say the walls of the State, grabbing eyeballs with simple yet stunning calligraphy and drawings as local body elections are nearing.

The old world charm of the wall art is something political parties and candidates do not want to miss, no matter how much the campaign methods have changed over the years. The graffiti has also evolved in terms of colour, design and font, keeping up to date with the changing aesthetics of the times, say artists engaged in the work for long.

Sajan C. John of Kadamakudy leads a team of 12 graffiti artists who have worked on over 1,000 walls for different political parties in different local bodies in Ernakulam district this time. “We try to make every piece of writing as colourful and impressive as possible. A wall art is the first step in an election campaign. It sets the mood of the campaign,” said Mr. Sajan.

Ramesh P.S., an artist from Ernakulam who has been in the field since 1992, agreed, despite raising the concern that there were not many young artists foraying into the sector of late.

Mr. Ramesh explained the transformation from colour powders to emulsion paint. The water-based paint is being used widely since it can be applied easily on all kinds of surfaces. “It gets dried within minutes and is weather-resistant,” he said.

Impromptu designs

The artists said they often create designs impromptu and finish the work on a wall within 15-20 minutes.

Sha Nettoor, who has worked on graffiti for the past 35 years, also rued the lack of newcomers in the field. He highlighted the importance of calligraphy in the works. “The letters should be perfect, then only will people like our work,” he said. Mr. Nettoor said candidates sometime demanded sophisticated designs, including 3D fonts, though they may not be possible on all walls.

The 2019 Lok Sabha elections saw the trend of printing faces of the candidates on synthetic clothes in graphic styles and making them a part of the wall campaign catching up. However, there are not many takers for the technique in local body elections where the graffiti is mostly restricted to the basics—names of the candidate and the party, and the symbol. The artists usually charge between ₹500 and ₹800 for a wall of an average size of 60 sq ft.

“The cost of graffiti is less compared to printed materials. It makes only a small part of the campaign expenses. Also, an attractive graffiti stays in people’s minds,” T.C. Pramodkumar, a BJP candidate and sitting councillor in the Kalamassery municipality, said.

Viral reels

Reels of artists working on graffiti, mostly party symbols, with exhilarating background music, have been flooding social media this time. “Not just that, candidates also want to shoot videos of them painting the graffiti. So they come to us while working and get some reels shot,” Mr. Shaji said, laughing.

Incidentally, the BJP had widely circulated a video of Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Suresh Gopi painting a poll graffiti in Thrissur, while visuals of a Spanish tourist joining artists to draw the Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s election symbol on a wall in Alappuzha recently has gone viral.