Art For All

Public art is both big bucks industry and a curious phenomenon that challenges conventional notions of creativity. A look at some of the most interesting and recent public art projects

- Chinki Sinha

IN THE NIGHT, THE SILVER WINGS on the double-decker BEST bus have an unreal glint that subdues the glass and steel buildings around it. For its creator, Sudarshan Shetty, this is an ode to middle class life in Mumbai. The red double-decker bus has been operational since 1937, but the numbers have gone down from 242 in 1942 to 122, and BEST has said there will be no further reduction until 201920. Shetty explores mortality and nostalgia that define Mumbai’s transportation heritage with a massive installation at Maker Maxity in the Bandra-Kurla Complex. The 9,000 kg artwork carries the burden of nostalgia, the despair of knowing that familiar things are disappearing as we surge ahead into the future.

Walls painted with stories or installations commemorating personal struggles—public art has gained momentum in the country over the past few years, with artists trying to break the monotony of galleries by taking it to the streets.

“Art is meant to evoke a reaction. As Edgar Degas had said, art is not what you see, but what you make others see, it doesn’t have the power to move people and evoke thoughts and dialogue. Whether politically charged or not, that is a powerful ability which art possesses and hence, in any context, it is super relevant,” says Akshat Nauriyal of the St+art India Foundation, which has been working for the past four years on public art projects, including transforming the 142-year-old Sassoon Docks in Mumbai, and bringing together more than 25 street artists to make the Lodhi Colony neighbourhood in New Delhi India’s first public art district.

“Public space in India is extremely complex and layered with several socio-cultural dynamics at play at all times. And as a tool of communication, it also reaches a vast number of people across demographics,” he says.