Building on their decade-long partnership, Asian Paints and St+art India Foundation are expanding their mission of cultural storytelling to Northeast India with the ‘Donate A Wall’ initiative. With two new murals in Shillong, and a third one in Diphu, the initiative transforms everyday walls into vibrant canvases, reflecting the region’s rich traditions, landscapes, and evolving identities.
These initiatives demonstrate a commitment to creating art that meaningfully connects with the local histories, landscapes, and cultures of Northeast India, while nurturing authentic artistic engagement. The project series is part of a larger effort to capture the region’s complexities through the accessible and contextually rooted medium of public art.
The ‘Donate-a-Wall’ initiative transforms overlooked public walls into vibrant murals that serve as powerful storytelling surfaces, connecting communities and reimagining their purpose. In the culturally rich Northeast, these artworks bridge tradition and modernity, nature and people, and local stories with the national fabric, reflecting the region’s unique identity and public’s deep-rooted connections.
The projects are titled Roots and Rhythm (Artist: Pascal Mario Kmenlang Pathaw), Threads of Tradition (Artist: Siddharth Gohil), and Assam Rifles School, Diphu (Artist: Sayan Mukherjee). The first mural in Shillong highlights the bond between Meghalaya’s culture and ecology, portraying both as active forces shaping each other. “Threads of Tradition” celebrates Meghalaya’s textile heritage as a living craft, shaped by history and constant reinvention. Set against the backdrop of the Directorate of Sericulture and Weaving in Shillong, the mural portrays weaving as both a craft and a form of cultural transmission. The mural at Assam Rifles School, Diphu, examines the layered identities of the Assam Rifles—not just as protectors of borders but as figures embedded in the social fabric of the communities they serve. Blending Karbi cultural elements with Assam’s ecological diversity, it highlights their dual role in safeguarding people and landscapes.
Amit Syngle, MD & CEO, Asian Paints said, “Public art, when created with intent, goes beyond beautification—it becomes a reflection of identity, allowing communities to see themselves and be seen by others. In the Northeast, this takes on even greater significance, as visual storytelling becomes a way to connect dispersed histories, like the living root bridges of the Khasi communities, the landscapes of Shillong, and lived realities of Garo culture. Our collaboration with St+art India Foundation supports this form of engagement, where walls transform into markers of cultural continuity and change. This is not a singular effort but part of an evolving commitment—to explore how colour and art can spark lasting conversations between place, people, and the possibilities of the future.”
Speaking on the art Giulia Ambrogi, Co-Founder and Chief Curator, St+art India Foundation added, “In the Northeast, culture is not archived—it is lived, performed, and carried forward through material and oral traditions, through the relationship between people and their landscapes. Public art here cannot simply be about representation; it must function as an active participant in this cultural continuum. With these murals, we are not introducing something new but instead engaging with what already exists, amplifying local narratives in a way that allows them to be seen, shared, and reinterpreted in a changing world. Our collaboration with Asian Paints has allowed us to think about these engagements beyond individual projects, towards a sustained dialogue—one that acknowledges the depth of histories here while also considering how they evolve in the present and the future.”
