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| Smile at the wall |
| Abhilasha Ojha / New Delhi Feb 28, 2009, 00:10 IST |
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Slick graffiti has found its way on to the walls of a store-with-a-difference, Nun. You can import it on your walls too.
It’s not easy to navigate the back lanes of Khan Market, arguably Delhi’s best address as far as retail outlets and stand-alone restaurants are concerned. Considered to be among the country’s most expensive commercial real estate, an inch in the market is most sought after.
Considering that a lack of space and visibility is something that most stores are grappling with in this area, Nun, a humble 550 sq ft outlet, has tried its best to stand out. It stocks a vast range of outfits for young girls in the age group of 16-25 years. What impresses one the most is the way the entire space has been designed — it’s almost like walking into a young girl’s room. Its hard to miss the baby-pink coloured wardrobe in which trinkets, bags and scarves rest. Then, there is the chandelier space hanging on which are hung innumerable trinkets like papier-mâché balls, little bells, rag dolls and many other hand-crafted products.
The latest addition to the shelves though comes right off the walls. The walls of the store are unique in that they feature a myriad brush strokes — graffiti. “It’s the impact of Facebook on young girls today. We wanted to explore that and bring it to the store”, says Ankur Prakash who, along with his business partner Anchal Jain, began Nun a couple of years ago.
“The idea was to create a room inside of a store, a typical room of a young girl in which she walks in along with her friends,” reveals Prakash.
Graffiti art on the walls of the Khan Market outlet, which was the first to open, also resonates at Nun’s newer stores in Delhi, Noida, Ahmedabad and Pune. The art is the handiwork of a handful of students from Delhi School of Art. They grabbed at the chance to work on the walls and also experimented with materials such as Vynil, a non-repetitive wallpaper alternative (a very expensive sticker) from Sweden.
The store makes ample use of wallpaper solutions. Large stencil patterns are painted boldly in black. Breaking the monotony of the stencil borders are some interesting images — a laughing skull, a dacoit cat, a mooing cow... things that immediately bring a smile to your face. Such has been the response that now the art even retails here, according to store manager, Sujata Yumkham.
The highlight of the showcases at Nun is the trend of “cute vectorism”. It is a movement that’s creating a lot of interest in the space of interior design. Confirming the movement are experts Mike and Katie, two graphic artists who started the Tado brand of wall art that is selling at Nun. So there’ll be, as the artists explain, “swirly shapes and cracked zombie mushrooms with maggots coming out from their heads” that can be used not just at stores but on the walls of homes all over the world.
Tado illustrations revolve around teddy bears, glass-eyed dolls and other bright characters that Nun’s store manager says, is at an experimental stage but will hopefully find takers. Additionally, the Vynil also showcases works by 5.5 Design. So, from a gigantic clock to a vase that snakes across the walls, to a clothes hanger with an umbrella on one hook, these elements can be simply peeled off and pasted on different walls — thereby being a part of the trend of having graffiti on indoor walls. But it might take a while before this genre of wall art takes off completely in India. Still, that shouldn’t stop you from wanting to catch a glimpse of what is on offer at Nun.
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