Art that took India’s streets by storm: Hanif Kureshi’s legacy

Just like American designer Milton Glaser, who famously crafted the iconic ‘I <3 NY’ logo, India had its own typography hero: Hanif Kureshi, a Gujarat-born multidisciplinary artist who used fonts, street art and public spaces to bring Indian popular aesthetics to the world stage.

On Sunday, 22 September, Kureshi passed away at the age of 41 after losing his battle with cancer. The artistic community was shaken by his passing, but his legacy lives on in the colourful streets of many an Indian city, the alphabets he rescued from oblivion and the murals — his own and those inspired and supported by him — that transformed our urban landscapes.

Kureshi didn’t just create art — he took art out of the gallery and placed it directly before all people. He also elevated the 'film poster' and 'truck art' into something that encompassed the very spirit of India in its colourfulness, its everydayness, its celebration of this nation's multitudes.

“Typefaces are like people,” he once said per the Indian Express, “You knew them by the clothes they wore. You could take Helvetica to a party and it would fit it, while the single font, red box of The Economist is so distinct.”

His project Handpainted Type was a celebration of India's rich legacy of hand-lettering, resurrecting the artistry of signboard painters whose thick, colourful strokes inform our every street corner, noted Lifestyle Asia. Yet, in Kureshi's art, what had been confined to juice stands and paanwalas evolved into loud, bold and blatantly regional representations of India's everyday vibrancy.

Kureshi didn’t stop at fonts; he elevated entire neighbourhoods.

Through his St+art India initiative, co-founded in 2013, Kureshi transformed public spaces into living, breathing art galleries.

He brought giant murals to Mumbai’s Sassoon Dock and Delhi’s Lodhi Colony, reminding us that art isn't just meant for pristine museum walls and hushed private art galleries, but also for the cracked facades of neglected urban corners. Just like decorated lorries and kolaam on the doorstep, India has always had a tradition of inclusive, eminently accessible, free-to-all art — and it was time for this sensibility to be transmuted into a contemporary shape.

The Lodhi Art District, which he helped create, is now India's first open-air art district — a living testament to his vision.

But it wasn’t just about the aesthetics; it was a project to bring people together — and Kureshi knew just how to do that.

He fostered collaborations between artists, designers, musicians — and created works that spoke to the world in various ways.

“Our aim is to make art more accessible. When you are working in an art gallery, your concerns are different, but this is art on the streets, for everyone,” stated Kureshi in an interview with the Indian Express in 2022.

Kureshi was also a provocateur, a street artist with something to say.

His underground graffiti movement didn’t sugarcoat the truth. Instead, it asked you to look at your surroundings with fresh perspective: “Stop Shopping,” “Stop Gossiping,” “Stop Posing,” said his signs at traffic signals.

These weren’t just words. They were a playful nudge, reminding the passerby to wake up from the urban stupor.

Kureshi’s work was rooted in the belief that art should be inclusive. He sought to bring the joy of creativity to the public by breaking down barriers between the elite and the everyday.

Thanks to Kureshi, neglected walls in Indian cities were transformed into massive canvases where everyday life, culture and social commentary intersected.

Whether it was a vibrant mural or a hand-painted signboard, Kureshi ensured that art spoke to everyone who passed by.

And even when he took his work into galleries — closed like the London Biennale or open like in Sweden's Uppsala — he was provocative, both challenging the viewer and expanding their horizons: an elephant tattooed over with multiple scripts, a 'Raaz' ('secret') written in tangled Arabic letters, colours and geometries that can be read many ways, a cascade of lettering that all together and alone scream 'South Asian heritage'.

Hanif Kureshi's vision lives on, through his St+art India initiative, which means to ensure that the streets of India will continue to pulse with colour and representation, offering passersby a moment of reflection, a pause from the rush of life.

Kureshi’s journey was about more than paint on walls or letters on a page. It was about community, culture and creating spaces where people could feel connected. As India and the world mourn his passing, we also celebrate a legacy that reminds us that art exists everywhere we walk.