Vancouver Mural Fest ready to transform the Punjabi Market

The Vancouver Mural Fest begins next week, and one of the neighbourhoods they’re featuring, the Punjabi Market, cannot wait for the collaboration.

Four murals are slated to be presented in this South Vancouver neighbourhood.

This new initiative, in partnership with mural fest organizers, is called Murals in the Market.

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The market has been the centre of attention in South Vancouver over the last year and beyond, as the Punjabi Market Regeneration Collective (PMRC), a group of young, diverse and passionate advocates for the area, has been on a journey to revitalize the once-thriving neighbourhood.

By collaborating with local BIPOC artists, the hope for Murals in the Market is that it will help facilitate storytelling through public art. Bringing attention back to the market would be a bonus.

 

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The PMRC is also hoping this initiative will bring some much-needed foot traffic back to the neighbourhood, which a lot of the businesses there could use.

As PMRC representative Gulzar Nanda told Daily Hive earlier this summer, the pandemic has not been kind to the market, which has already seen diminishing traffic in recent years.

Plans for a large celebration last year were put on hold due to COVID-19.

Murals in the Market

Guest curator Jas Lally has selected five artists to create art in the Punjabi Market, who come from a variety of backgrounds, including Indigenous artist Diamond Point, self-taught queer artist Guntaj Deep Singh, Minahil Bukhari, Mustaali Raj, and Sandeep Johal.

The mural fest runs from August 4 to August 22.

Find more information about Murals in the Market here.