Required Reading

"Tessa Hunkin, leader of the Hackney Mosaic Project, has been bringing people with mental health and addiction problems together to create murals around east London since 2012. "A lot of people carry a huge burden of shame," says the 71-year-old. "They feel they've messed up their lives. It's great for them to have something to be proud of and to show their families." Her new book, Tessa Hunkin's Hackney Mosaic Project, showcases these colourful installations, often featuring detailed motifs of plants, animals and historical figures."

"Another London mosaic artist who goes by the name of Florist once received 300 hours of community service for graffiti as a teenager. He stopped soon after, but his love of art was rekindled when, nine months ago, he began installing pixelated designs on buildings he considers eyesores. "To come back full circle and do it now is quite a beautiful thing for me, because it was always what I loved. I was obsessed with colour and shapes.""

"Mosques in India have long been under attack by the growing Hindu fascist movement, which also extends into the diaspora. Nikita Jain and Nayla Khwaja investigate the demolition of these sacred sites for Polis Project: In March this year, Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's tomb in Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar had to be put under heavy security after Hindu outfits like Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal threatened a "Babri Masjid-like fate" if their demand to remove the structure was not met by"

Community mosaic projects in east London convert potholes, sidewalk cracks and neglected surfaces into colorful, detailed installations. Participants often include people with mental-health and addiction problems who gain pride, creative purpose and public recognition through collaborative mural-making. Artists such as Tessa Hunkin and a practitioner known as Florist employ motifs of plants, animals, historical figures and pixelated glass flowers to enliven streetscapes. Separately, mosques in India face sustained threats and demolitions from rising Hindu nationalist groups, prompting heavy security around vulnerable sites, calls to remove Islamic structures and fears of repeat incidents modeled on the Babri Masjid demolition.

Read at Hyperallergic