Hanif Kureshi 

1982 – 2024 

Few people in one’s life make a huge impact. Hanif was one of those people. We met in New Delhi in 2011 while he was a young art director in an ad agency. Hanif had recognized a dying artistic culture around him – the humble, but elaborate, hand-painted typographic street signs proliferating in the Indian urban landscape. Initiating The HandpaintedType Project (@handpaintedtype), Hanif helped revive and elevate that culture to an acknowledged art form. 

In 2013, with a group of multi-disciplinary co-founders, he created The St+Art India (@startindia)  to promote and nurture a community of artists and undertake public art projects to uplift urban areas with large and provocative celebrations of human creativity. He brought art to the people who might never see the inside of a gallery or museum with public works which telegraphed joy and inspiration in a uniquely Indian way.  

From Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, Shanghai University: ‘The [HandpaintedType] project has resulted in a popular reclamation of the cities’ civic spaces and a simultaneous transformation of their urban fabric.  A large part of their work in Mumbai’s Dharavi slum – one of the largest in the world – is based around inducting children into art and creative activities that surround the larger graffiti culture – by encouraging jams, workshops, and volunteering – which has led to many young men turning into graffiti artists in their own rights. The project invites artists from India as well as abroad to expand and enrich the local idea of art, and public art.’

After looking for opportunities over the years, four weeks ago our studio @cwarchitects connected with Hanif and his creative studio Guerilla (@byguerrilla) to collaborate on environmental graphics for @lululemon’s India offices. Hanif kicked off the ideas, but sadly will not see them finished. The world has lost a great talent. Hanif truly elevated the human condition and made art accessible to the community.

RIP Hanif

Clive Wilkinson