The Pullukadu Housing Unit in Coimbatore is no ordinary government housing colony. This area in Ukkadam is bursting with exquisite colours and it’s hard not to stop and gaze at the murals.

Singaporean artist Yip Yew Chong has painted on the wall a crisp dosa, a steaming glass of tea, a banana leaf with typical Coimbatore breakfast items, a furry cat climbing onto the leaf, a gentle goat, a pigeon flying, and a pani puri seller. Tamil text reads, ‘Vaanga Saapidalam’ (Come, let’s eat). The mural is a nod to the neighbourhood’s culinary tradition and communal warmth.

Block 19 is one of the three buildings that became canvases for the fourth edition of the Ukkadam Art District, a project initiated by St+art India Foundation with the support of Asian Paints, in collaboration with Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation, Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUHDB) and Residents Awareness Association of Coimbatore (RAAC). 

Ukkadam is one of the three ‘art districts’ of St+art in Tamil Nadu and one of their seven in India. It began in 2020 with four murals. Now, the neighbourhood has 18 building-sized paintings. This year’s additions include Yip’s ‘Come let’s eat’, Spanish artist Jofre Oliveras’s poignant ‘Communion’, which explores the dynamics of power and community through therapeutic healing, and Indian artist Jayesh Sachdev’s colourful ‘Utopian Ukkadam’, which juxtaposes tradition and modernity. Residents of the Pullukadu Housing Board actively participated in the project.

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