Fish Out of Water
Greta Von Richthofen and Aashti Miller
In collaboration with Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan, New Delhi
The Goethe-Institut has been working with artists from across the globe to create Graphic Travelogues, a digital platform dedicated to comics, focusing on the subject of travel since 2019.
Taking this journey to another dimension, Goethe-Institut and St+art launched an open call to invite one German and one Indian artist to collaboratively work on two murals – one here in Delhi’s Lodhi Art District and the other in Kannagi Art District, Chennai.
The selected artists, Greta Von Richthofen and Aashti Miller, were encouraged to work on thought-provoking ideas about the meaning of ‘travel’ from a broad lens.
During the unprecedented time of the pandemic, when physical travel and any kind of free movement was halted, they found themselves tucked away with their thoughts, and were transported to an ocean of imagination. Thus, the artists explore the idea of ‘traveling in the mind’ through these murals – seen as a journey that anyone can make, regardless of culture, background, or spatial limitations.
The flying and running fish, and birds playfully depict different ways of traveling: over water, in the air and on land. This journey seeks to emphasize the sense of discovery that traveling entails, relaying how crucial it is to cultivate inclusive and diverse perspectives – in order to have an enriching and meaningful experience of life at large. Therefore, from an expansive lens to a site-specific one, the artists include hyper-localised elements that become symbolic of this journey.
Depicting local flora and fauna, traditional and historical elements inspired by Mughal architecture, and fantastical creatures – the work further explores travel to one’s past, through a shared nostalgia. Similarly, in Chennai the artists make references to the city through a localised and engaging vocabulary.
The murals differ in color and motifs, but connect to one another by showcasing the positive power and immense possibilities of imagination and creativity, which enters the mind in Chennai and flows out of the hands in Delhi. This conceptual connection thus ‘travels’ across two diverse cities.
As we all recover and return to the new normal, we might be fish out of water, but Miller and Richthofen believe that their explorations have taught them to embrace this discomfort and translate it into a magical journey.
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Aashti Miller and Greta von Richthofen survey the lanes of Kannagi Nagar. -
The Chennai mural wall is given a layer of base paint in blue. -
Artists Aashti Miller and Greta von Richthofen have drawn the outline of the mural from a digital sketch using a projector. -
The two artists apply the first brush strokes of paint on the wall. -
Paint bins are ready for the Chennai mural. -
The first colour of the mural to appear on the wall is yellow. -
The work of art is completed.
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In Lodhi Art District some walls are still blank. -
The wall is prepared for the art artwork. -
Aashti Miller and Greta von Richthofen -
The first part of the design sketch for the mural is applied. -
The technique is set up, the sketches already completely on the wall. -
Aashti Miller and Greta von Richthofen on their way to work. -
Colors fill the sketches. -
Strictly guarded at night -
The public work of art grows day by day. -
Free from giddiness: Aashti and Greta work at dizzy heights. -
The mural already attracts the interest of the public during its creation.
Developing a work of art together with the Indian artist Aashti has been such an exciting process and through it, I have learned so much about India. Although we grew up and live in different countries, we have something in common - the joy of drawing - which we hope shines through in our murals!"
Greta von Richthofen
I applied for this project with St+art and Goethe because I felt that this would be a great opportunity to impact the public realm in a meaningful way. This is something most young architects like me dream of. Working with Greta has felt like creating with my better half! We are both so excited to see our drawings come to life."
Aashti Miller
