Kerala Assembly polls: meet women who paint election graffiti

Like them or hate them, but there’s no avoiding election graffiti as campaigning for the Assembly polls reaches fever pitch across the State.

Recently, reports of a candidate in the Palakkad Assembly constituency deploying a robot to paint election graffiti went viral. But for the most part, graffiti artists have been keeping the art of election wall writing alive in these times of flex boards.

It’s the men who have traditionally painted and written on walls, but occasionally, women too write poll slogans to promote democracy.

Jishi Mol J.R. of Vilavoorkal panchayat is one such woman who is equally at ease painting a wall as she is teaching arts and craft at her academy Chinnus Arts and Crafts, Ezhacodu, near Vilavoorkal.

Jishi Mol estimates she has completed nearly 100 graffiti this Assembly election alone, all for the Left Democratic Front (LDF). For the local body elections last year though, she had taken up wall painting for other parties.

When asked why she chose to paint graffiti for the LDF this time, Jishi Mol points out that she had ample work in various panchayats for the LDF itself. She is also a CPI(M) member and Kudumbashree auxiliary group member.

A diploma holder in fine arts, Jishi Mol has been wall painting during elections for some years now, but has not come across other women doing the same. Women, though, do take up mural and other painting on walls, she points out.

For her part, Jishi Mol likes painting graffiti, despite the oppressive summer heat. “I am a professional and am ready to face hardships to paint graffiti.”

A Kalathilakam in the 2026 and 2019 Keralotsavam, Jishi Mol feels technology will evolve but what graffiti artists do is give their work special touches that are the result of their creativity. This can be seen in the colours, fonts, or effects used or the captions given to make the graffiti eye-catching.

She feels that with the widespread use of flex boards, it is only during election time that those painting graffiti are in demand. “Traditional wall painting artists are struggling. Sometimes when they ask me, I include them to help with my work.”

Jishi Mol has only admiration for them. “Their hands may shake owing to age, but their work will be precise.”

Smitha Shajith of Kollam has painted graffiti for a number of elections, including the local body elections last year, for the LDF but she had to stay away for the Assembly elections as she, along with her husband Shajith, were taking part in their first Kochi Biennale.

Usually, Smitha’s partner in painting walls during elections is her brother U.M. Binny. She is also part of a cultural forum Prakash Kala Kendram at Neeravil and gets many projects as part of her engagements with it.

Smitha too agrees that women do not take up painting walls for elections though they are coming forward to become a part of street art. “My circumstances led me to it, but not many women wall paint for elections.”