Painter Kafeel
Painter Kafeel is originally from Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh but has lived in Delhi for almost 20 years and has been painting for even longer. Having never been to school, he moved to Delhi to become a street painter, establishing himself in the labyrinth of Old Delhi. He developed a unique Devanagari font, through an initiative called HandPaintedType, which has now been bought by Google, Forbes and Starbucks. As one of the major representatives of this Indian art form, Kafeel was invited in 2018 to take part in London Letterheads amongst the most renowned sign painters from around the world
Serendipity Arts Festival - Proverb Project
st+art India Foundation x asian paints
Panjim, 2017
Mindful of the increasing communication gap between the young and older generations, in December 2017 St+art invited the Hand Painted Type Project to paint a series of proverbs from Goa, in Goa. With a laid-back culture that isn’t complete without an afternoon siesta, one can see many closed shop shutters - some of them permanently closed, in the city. The closed shop shutters, a sight common across areas of Goa, then gave us an opportunity to use them as canvases for painting proverbs. With bold letters, Painter Kafeel revives sign painting as an artform.
Social - Cyber Hub
gurgaon, 2015
Along with the unique design team of Guerrilla, Kafeel created signboards for upcoming restaurant Social in Cyber Hub, Gurgaon. Made to marry the traditional signboard atheistic and contemporary typography, kafeel uses both Latin and Devanagari script to best characterise the essence of the joint and its audience.
Lodhi Art District
New Delhi, 2016
Painter Kafeel and his team painted Swachh Bharat in his signature style using bold typefaces. Created in collaboration with the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) and the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), this mural is both a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation and a promise to keep the city clean. By involving these local street painters, who have been rapidly going out of business with the advent of local DTP (Desktop Publishers), St+art India Foundation aims to support this art form and restore its presence in the contemporary practice while spreading positive messages.
Asian Paints
New Delhi NCR - Paharganj, 2016
From the depths of Old Delhi, Painter Kafeel and his team of sign painters created a magical transformation of a municipal school in the chaotic Paharganj. A bright takeover, this mural frames things the students deal with on a daily bases but in a playful way thus deeply transforming the atmosphere of the school.
Tihar Jail
New Delhi, 2014
Painter Kafeel with several sign painters to worked on a typographic project which aimed at bringing some humanity and softness to the region initiated by St+art India. A 90-word poem called ‘Chaardiwaari’, written by one of the inmates, was painted on the exterior of the prison. The result was a 968 metre long artwork - the longest mural of India at the time.
This project was largely an endeavour of contemporising the great tradition of Indian sign painting which is disappearing due to the digital printing.
