UM x Okami
We love celebrating Indian Street Culture and we are always on the lookout for cool new artists. Mumbai-based graffiti artist and next-door art nerd Okami - grew up spending most of his time on the Internet, creating digital and conventional art. A computer engineer by profession his art follows an object-oriented approach like software with a heavy influence from Japanese culture. So, when we spotted Okami’s work, on a busy street corner in Mahim, we knew we had to work with him. Tell us a bit about yourself? How did you develop your style? Thanks to the media I consumed, I was always aware of graffiti but I had not familiarised myself with the graffiti scene in India. I always assumed that some artists from abroad came here, took some special permission from the government thanks to their reputation/portfolio, and did as they liked. So I never really gave much thought to it. Then as life went on, I focused on my other interest - technology, and eventually became a computer engineer. The art I made always had this object-oriented approach like software. The code I wrote always had some Easter eggs in the form of ASCII-art or some obscure UI design and so does my art. How'd you first gravitate towards graffiti and what motivated you when you began? My experience as a Software Architect made me realize that social media is a simulacrum of the scene on the streets. I decided to document my art and start a social media art account sometime in the mid-2010s. Through that process, I discovered the Indian graffiti scene, and it all clicked. You put your thoughts out there for the whole world to see and, in effect, leave your mark on society - Okami Around that time, I was working on a project abroad in a different timezone and used to leave work by 1-2 AM. Not a single soul in sight. That was the perfect time to make the streets my canvas. I bought a couple of cans and started dropping tags along my work route back home. Eventually, tags became throwies, throwies became fleshed-out pieces, and here we are! What kept you going and how did it shape you? There was no social media algorithm to decide my reach or any centralized system to store/monitor my art. I got to choose my walls and set in motion the butterfly effect of who my audience could be. There were only two factors at play- probability and myself. How was the collaboration with Urban Monkey unique to you? My collaboration with Urban Monkey has been a unique experience right from the beginning. Since I maintain a rather dystopian,conflict-centric view about the world, they tend to show up in my art, in the form of washed-out colors and expressions of conflict. For this collection, I learned to incline myself towards positivity and celebrations of street culture, and it’s honestly been such a breath of fresh air! That and it also helped me elevate my creation to a whole new standard, where it's not just about expressing myself but at the same time, making it inherently more appealing. Which I haven't done much before. Graffiti to me is the purest, adulteration-free means of self-expression What was the concept / ideology behind this collaboration? I take pride in my South-East Asian background and personally, my inclinations are anti-colonial and anti-oriental in nature with a lot of inspiration from Japanese culture. So, the theme behind the collaboration was to create a fusion of my feudal Japanese-inspired art style and iconic aspects of the hip-hop culture in India - Be it skating, dancing, or simply dressing up with swag for street cred. What is Indian streetwear according to you? Now I won’t pretend or claim that I am someone who has a deeper understanding of ‘Indian Streetwear’ or ‘Streetwear’ at that matter. For me, Indian Streetwear is synonymous with Indian Street Scene. It has its influences from the west, but the desi tadka is what makes it unique. Indian Streetwear should be raw and experimental with a throwback to western hip-hop while maintaining that desi tadka - Okami What does the word Graffiti mean to you? Graffiti to me is the purest, adulteration-free means of self-expression. I am not an outgoing or even moderately social person, so I put my name out there for the world to see. It wasn’t given to me by anyone, nor do I have any legal right to be called or known as Okami. I built it up from scratch and made it my identity. And for the very same reason, I respect everyone out there who did or is doing the same. You can view more of Okami’s work and contact him via Instagram Okami UM Instagram Instagram Shop the Collection

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UM x Doodle Mapuls
What if hip-hop existed in the 1800’s? We imagine it would look something like this.☝️ This series explores how life would look if various art forms merged across different time zones. It goes without saying, but let’s get it out of the way: 2020 was a weird year. But what it offered us was a much-needed break, to sit back and think over our course of action. Which is why Mapuls EXCLUSIVE collection for Urban Monkey explores a world without limitations, a world that breaks away from the rigidness of our mundane lives and takes you into a whole different dimension. Tell us a bit about yourself? How did you develop your style? We three graduated as architects together and were a team since our initial college days. We were constantly finding a creative route to explore and kept doing small creatives since college but we never termed it or clubbed it under one name. Architecture did open our eyes towards designing and helped us with the basic principles of art - But there were certain limitations in exploring our thoughts completely. These limitations needed a way to come out, and that’s how we started doodling and exploring graphics. During this Lockdown that we took the step of naming the creatives, we do under a name and that’s how ‘Doodle Mapuls’ was established. What kept you going and how did it shape you? We were looking for a medium of reaching more people and also looking for an outlet to detoxify our minds from the mundane and constant hustle of office and Doodling became the silver lining to the work which saturates the mind to the point of exhaustion. We recharge our minds by pouring our strokes on paper, this self-satisfaction is what shapes us every day to be a better artist How was the collaboration with Urban Monkey unique to you? This may come across as made up but we visualized this day, to have our work on an Urban Monkey Product. This collaboration opened our eyes to the world of materializing the art we have. It taught us all the aspects of designing that we need to have in mind when it comes to bringing a product from a digital screen to cloth. What makes this collaboration even more special and unique was that, we were never restricted with our creative choices. To have a brand with such recognition trust you is truly grateful and we are thankful for this opportunity. What was the concept / ideology behind this collaboration? The New Old. We are so used to the fast and trendy life that we have started to leave behind our roots. What if one day the lines in between were blurred and a new time zone is created where all our art forms merge between the past and present? This series explores various art forms in merged time zones to give you a jest of how happening life would have been if we could juggle with time - Doodle Mapuls What is Indian streetwear according to you? Streetwear around the world helps in distinguishing the local culture and helps in understanding the local language of a place. According to us, Indian Streetwear is something that resonates with the culture-rich background that India holds. The artistic language needs to resonate with the common man. We in India need to start creating this language of cloth which will help us stand out with our cultural references. You can view more of Doodle Mapul’s work and contact them via Instagram Doodle Mapuls UM Instagram Instagram Shop the Collection

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UM x Homework Studio
A little bit about Sanskar Sawant, Highly acclaimed for his impactful work, Sanskar Sawant, founder of Homework Studio is one of the top Illustrators / Installation artists in Mumbai. He spearheads the environmental design wing at his studio- designing interactive environments through public art, artifacts, typography, and upholstery by tapping into the subconscious of people who live in that space. How was the collaboration with Urban Monkey unique to you? This collection is created to open dialogue. We want to be able to show the realities of our community’s experiences and continue difficult conversations when no one else wants to. Inspired by the 80’s Memphis style, a play on patterns, proportions and colours, this collection is designed to be free flowing. This EXCLUSIVE collection designed for Urban Monkey appears random at first, but when you pay attention, you’ll notice that these designs have a humorous take on modern day situations hidden within them. This collaboration with Urban Monkey showcases a brand that supports subcultures and the ecosystems and artists within those subcultures. They’re slowly beginning to influence the street-wear community as the community has so far been influencing them. - Homework Studio You can view more of Homework’s work and contact him via Instagram Homework UM Instagram Instagram Shop the Collection

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