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| {{Short description|Pseudonymous graffiti artist from India}}
| | #REDIRECT [[Hanif Kureshi]] |
| {{Infobox artist
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| | name = Daku
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| | image = Daku Artist Sign Goregaon Mumbai.jpg
| | {{R from person}} |
| | caption = Graffiti of Daku on footbridge in [[Goregaon]], Mumbai
| | {{R with history}} |
| | birth_name = <!-- Do not add without clear confirmation-->
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| | awards =
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| | website = {{URL|http://www.daku156.com}}
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| | field = [[Graffiti]]<br />[[Street art]]<br />[[Social commentary]]
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| | training =
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| '''Daku''' is a [[pseudonym]]ous [[Street artist|graffiti artist]] from [[Delhi]], India.<ref name="Singh 2013">{{cite web | last=Singh | first=Isha | title=Meet India's Banksy | website=WSJ | date=27 April 2013 | url=https://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2013/04/27/meet-indias-banksy/ | access-date=16 February 2015}}</ref><ref name="The Sunday Guardian 2015">{{cite web | title=Pretty as a picture: India Art Fair 2015 | website=The Sunday Guardian | date=9 August 2015 | url=http://www.sunday-guardian.com/artbeat/pretty-as-a-picture-india-art-fair-2015 | access-date=9 August 2015}}</ref> Active since 2008, he painted art in several cities across India commenting on social and political issues.
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| ==Early life==
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| The real identity of Daku is not known. Not much is known about his life. He is possibly born around 1984. He was raised in a small town in [[Saurashtra (region)|Saurashtra]], [[Gujarat]]. He studied art and worked with an advertising agency before starting graffiti. ''Daku'' literally means "bandit" or "[[dacoit]]" in [[Hindi language]].<ref name="Singh 2013"/><ref name="BBC News 2014">{{cite web | title='India's Banksy' wants to provoke voters | website=BBC News | date=7 April 2014 | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26930400 | access-date=16 February 2015}}</ref><ref name="Bordewekar 2014">{{cite web | last=Bordewekar | first=Sandhya | title=Graffiti Art: The Emergence of Daku on Indian Streets | date=29 November 2014 | url=http://www.artnewsnviews.com/view-article.php?article=graffiti-art-the-emergence-of-daku-on-indian-streets&iid=33&articleid=982 | access-date=16 February 2015}}</ref>
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| ==Career==
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| {{quote|[The street art is] decorative, contextual, layered and artists aren’t afraid of giving their name. Graffiti is more underground, more rebel.|''Daku'', Wall Street Journal, 2013}}
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| He was introduced to graffiti in 2006 through a website called ''Streetfiles''. His initial collaboration was with France-based artist JonOne, one of the founder-members of ''Crew 156'' — the group of popular [[New York City Subway]] artists from the 1980s, in [[Mumbai]] in 2008 for a year.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/H4VKicbDZlm32BrZZRCTzN/On-15-May-this-art-will-disappear.html|title=On 15 May, this art will disappear|last=Parakala|first=Vangmayi|date=2016-05-06|work=Live Mint|access-date=2017-05-31}}</ref> He also collaborated with two other graffiti artist, Bond and Zine in Delhi in 2008. He started tagging his own name in [[Devnagari script]] on walls in Mumbai and South Delhi in 2008 and told that he did it to reach large Indian population who understand only local languages. He [[stencil]]ed ''fuck'' in Hindi across nine places in Mumbai overnight in 2011 to protest against [[Vasant Dhoble]], assistant commissioner of police who was accused of [[moral police|moral policing]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/books-and-art/111116/the-dacoit-of-the-art-world.html|title=The dacoit of the art world|last=Praveen|first=Priyanka|date=2016-11-11|work=Deccan Chronicle|access-date=2017-08-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170804134138/http://www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/books-and-art/111116/the-dacoit-of-the-art-world.html|archive-date=2017-08-04|language=en}}</ref> He regularly commented on social issues by his works like stenciled LPG cylinder rocket to highlight price rise, blindfolded protester during [[2011 Indian anti-corruption movement]].<ref name="Nevatia 2014">{{cite web | last=Nevatia | first=Shreevatsa | title=Rinky on the wall | website=The Hindu Business Line | date=7 November 2014 | url=http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/takeaway/rinky-on-the-wall/article6573983.ece | access-date=9 August 2015}}</ref> Before [[2010 Commonwealth Games]] in Delhi, he modified several stop signs to deliver messages and provoke reaction from public. He tagged many garbage bins with ''Ku'' ''Da'' in Delhi, an anagram of his own name. For years he tags his name ''Daku'' across cities in India in indigenous fonts and typography including Mumbai, Delhi, [[Ahmedabad]] and [[Baroda]]. He along with others, did {{convert|200|m|ft|adj=mid|-long|sp=us}} and {{convert|74|m|ft|adj=mid|-high|spell=in|sp=us}} wall graffiti, commissioned at [[Buddh International Circuit]]. He along with Bond, created 200 square meter graffiti at [[IIT Bombay]] TechFest in 2011.<ref name="Singh 2013" /><ref name="Bordewekar 2014" /><ref name="ET2012">{{cite web | title=Cans & Roses: Guerrilla artists on Indian street | website=The Economic Times | date=18 August 2012 | url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-08-18/news/33261718_1_graffiti-artists-yantr-street-art | access-date=16 February 2015}}</ref><ref name="dnab2014">{{cite web | title=Street art breathes a new life into Mumbai — Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis | website=dna | date=7 December 2014 | url=http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report-street-art-breathes-a-new-life-into-mumbai-2041757 | access-date=9 August 2015}}</ref> Before [[2014 Indian general election]], he painted a graffiti ''Mat Do'' at F-block, [[Connaught Place, New Delhi|Connaught Place]] which had dual meaning, ''don’t give vote'' or ''vote''. It showed a fisted hand with an inked middle finger.<ref name="Deccan Heraldn2015">{{cite web | title=A pithy message on the wall | website=Deccan Herald | date=25 March 2015 | url=http://www.deccanherald.com/content/467752/a-pithy-message-wall.html | access-date=9 August 2015}}</ref>
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| Daku has created street arts with light, shadows and reflections. He first experimented during Kochi biennale, 2012 and put mirrors to reflect texts such as “Time Flies” or “Time Travel” for limited time in a day. He installed a shadow art in Lodhi Colony, Delhi in March 2016.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/12/arts/daku-india-street-art/index.html|title=Graffiti powered by the sun. What?!|author=Roshni Majumdar|website=CNN|access-date=2017-05-31}}</ref>
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| He organized India's first-ever street art festival in Delhi in 2013.<ref name="India Today 2013">{{cite web | title=A new breed of artists is taking their canvases to public spaces | website=India Today | date=19 March 2013 | url=http://m.indiatoday.in/story/street-art-artists-writing-on-wallcanvases-to-public-spaces/1/258036.html | access-date=16 February 2015}}</ref> His works have been showcased at venues such as the [[Centre Pompidou]], [[Venice Biennale]] and Triennale Design museum.<ref name="strt">{{cite web|title=St+ART Delhi 2015 |website=St+ART Delhi 2015 |date=4 November 2014 |url=http://www.st-artdelhi.org/artists/ |access-date=16 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150216233058/http://www.st-artdelhi.org/artists/ |archive-date=16 February 2015 }}</ref> He participated in the India Art Fair 2015 and created 100-meter-long stencilled mural on asphalt with the repeated slogan, ''This is commissioned vandalism''.<ref name="Khurana 2015">{{cite web | url=http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/tV6fSSeVmUFXbFoIjVPw3I/Giant-ants-melting-carpets.html | title=Giant ants, melting carpets | date=22 January 2015 | access-date=9 August 2015 | last=Khurana | first=Chanpreet | website=livemint.com}}</ref><ref name="Kuruvilla 2015">{{cite web | url=http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/BhxK8VUDkGedRbctaXWAFJ/Girish-Shahane-Art-as-investment-is-a-dreadful-idea.html | title=Girish Shahane: 'Art as investment is a dreadful idea' | date=10 January 2015 | access-date=9 August 2015 | last=Kuruvilla | first=Elizabeth | website=livemint.com}}</ref><ref name="Maddox 2015">{{cite web | last=Maddox | first=Georgina | title=Alive to the arts | website=The Hindu Business Line | date=30 January 2015 | url=http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/watch/alive-to-the-arts/article6835033.ece | access-date=9 August 2015}}</ref><ref name="Shahane 2015">{{cite web | last=Shahane | first=Girish | title=The Ideas That Shaped The Special Projects At The India Art Fair | website=The Huffington Post | date=31 January 2015 | url=http://www.huffingtonpost.in/girish-shahane/enhancing-the-stickiness-_b_6583602.html | access-date=9 August 2015}}</ref> He designed a room in flat of [[Hrithik Roshan]] in 2015.<ref name="Mirror 2015">{{cite web | last=Mirror | first=Mumbai | title=Reflects action | website=Mumbai Mirror | date=14 May 2015 | url=http://www.mumbaimirror.com/columns/mumbai-001/Reflects-action/articleshow/47273687.cms | access-date=9 August 2015}}</ref> He had done graffiti on shutters of Hysteria, the music merchandise shop, on Church Street, [[Bengaluru]] in late 2015 for "Mohan Kaun?" Project.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/columns/sunday-read/how-did-bengalurus-church-street-go-from-being-food-drink-central-to-a-hub-of-art-and-often-activism-heres-how/articleshow/58767530.cms?|title=How did Bengaluru's Church Street go from being food, drink central to a hub of art, and often, activism? Here's how - Bangalore Mirror -|work=Bangalore Mirror|access-date=2017-05-31}}</ref> He placed billboards across [[Hyderabad]] in April, 2016 in criticism of [[consumerism]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.asianage.com/life/art/121116/the-dacoit-of-the-art-world.html|title=The dacoit of the art world|date=2016-11-13|work=Asian Age|access-date=2017-05-31}}</ref> In October 2016, he pasted giant snail posters across Silicon Valley, Bangaluru to highlight traffic jams.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://qz.com/804849/indias-most-famous-graffiti-artist-is-sticking-snails-around-bengaluru-to-mock-its-woefully-slow-traffic/|title=India's most famous graffiti artist is sticking giant snails around Bengaluru|last=Thomas|first=Maria|work=Quartz|access-date=2017-05-31|language=en-US}}</ref> He installed a shadow art called "Theories of Time" in [[Panaji]], [[Goa]] in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-01-15|title=Sunlight Casts Shadows of Phrases Exploring Theories of Time in a Street Art Installation by DAKU|url=https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2019/01/theory-of-time-by-daku/|access-date=2021-04-17|website=Colossal|language=en}}</ref> In 2021, he created a mural highlighting water crisis in [[Chennai]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-03-23|title=Graffiti artist Daku’s latest mural is a take on Chennai’s water crisis|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/art-and-culture/graffiti-artist-dakus-latest-mural-a-take-on-chennais-water-crisis-7241221/|access-date=2021-04-17|website=The Indian Express|language=en}}</ref>
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| ==References==
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| {{reflist|2}}
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| {{Street Art}}
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| [[Category:Anonymous artists]]
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| [[Category:Living people]]
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| [[Category:Indian graffiti artists]]
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| [[Category:Pseudonymous artists]]
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| [[Category:Political artists]]
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| [[Category:People from Gujarat]]
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| [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
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| [[Category:Indian male artists]]
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