Urban Sketchers, capturing raw beauty of Hyderabad
The Hyderabad chapter of the movement has blossomed into a community of over 500 artists
Hyderabad: There are many ways of capturing the beauty of a city, but something that is intensely personal and raw is going to a random spot in the city and sketching the surroundings, the traffic, the people, the chaos and the coherence that makes up for the soul of a city. Urban Sketchers Hyderabad, the city’s chapter of the Urban Sketchers movement, has been doing exactly that over the last four years.
With a sketch-walk every week, wherein the group goes to a different spot in every walk, the group has now blossomed into a community of over 500 artists. According to its regional admin Faraaz Farshori, the group is also reflective of the diversity that exists in this city.
“The hundreds of artists that make up Urban Sketchers are from different classes, castes and religions, reflecting the diversity of Hyderabad and we have done sketch-walks in a wide range of areas across the city,” shares the IT consultant, who is also one of the two founders of the group.
In the last one year, since the beginning of the pandemic, the group has taken a different route, going online to ensure safety of all artists and that, in fact, has increased the potential sharply as this time they are conducting a sketching session on a daily basis.
“Instead of sketch-walks, we are conducting a curated sketch session every day, with a different group member conducting a Zoom session on a daily basis. About 30-40 people are attending those online sessions every day and producing their version of the visual,” shares Farshori.
Apart from utilising their skills to capture the beauty of the city, the group has also played a role in ensuring some places in the city are restored to their original beauty as the group also took up projects to restore lakes and monuments. “We did a campaign to save a lake in Nanakramguda and later to help save a clock-tower at Murgi Chowk. Through our sketches, we showed what the place can be and it did have an impact,” shares Farshori.
He, along with the other founding member Ishak Ziaee, have now decided to stick to online activities to ensure safety. “Online activities have become more popular as they are happening every day and are also safer and convenient. We have decided to stick to that for now and even when we conduct a physical activity, we are planning on requesting participants to show their vaccination certificate,” he adds.
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