Thaindian News

By Madhusree Chatterjee
New Delhi, Jan 12 (IANS) Art in public spaces involving mass participation has caught the capital’s imagination. The cast is diverse with personalities like Subodh Gupta, Anjolie Ela Menon and even Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati contributing to the flurry of aesthetics and innovation.”When it comes to public art, its aesthetic value is more important than its meaning,” said leading contemporary artist Subodh Gupta, who is creating “The Tree” to be installed at the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) complex in nine months.

Gupta said the “Tree” will be over 25 feet tall and 20 feet in wide with leaves made of stainless steel utensils. The sculpture will be his tribute to the capital in its centenary year.

NDMC wants art to percolate down to the masses. It hoped to organise more art shows and exhibitions for this purpose, according to an official.

Delhi is home to a handful of public art installations like the sculptures at the India Gate, Teen Murti Bhavan, the Dandi March project, the Yaskha and Yakshi sculptures at the Reserve Bank of India and the stainless steel flowers and sprouts under the AIIMS flyover.

The sprawling Ambedkar Memorial Park at Noida initiated by Mayawati is a classic example of a public art complex with its elephant-headed pillars, a popular Dalit motif, dome-shaped stupas and life-size images of Dalit leaders.

While the government projects are long-term and permanent in nature, the India Art Summit 2011 will bring to the capital several interactive public art projects involving people.

Though temporary, the interactive panorama includes nine special art installations and the ongoing Art Tiger project in the capital.

“The Art Tiger project by Saath Saath Art aims to spread awareness about tiger conservation. It will come up at 50 venues, from the airport to cinemas. The project consists of 58 fibre-glass tigers by leading artists. They will be relocated to the India Art Summit next week. Over 70,000 visitors are expected at the summit,” Neha Kirpal, director of the India Art Summit 2011, told IANS.

Another project at the summit is the Feed Station, a public blog and art project by Abhisekh Hazra on the premises of the summit that will engage visitors on the ground and in cyber space.

Two French graffiti artists L’Atlas and Tanc will make live graffiti outdoor while Indian graphic artists Sarnath Banerjee and Gigi Scaria will capture delhi’s political and social undercurrent in a large wall art project “The Imaginary Book of Zoology”.

Artist Anjolie Ela Menon said: “I want to devote the rest of my public life to art in public space. It is much more satisfying.” She is working on two big public art installation projects.

A unique project, “The Khoj Marathon” will bring Hans Ulrich Obrist, the director of international art at the Serpentine Gallery in London, in a series of 25 conversations with artists and activists like Homai Vyarawalla, Subodh Gupta, Bharti Kher and Vandana Shiva Jan 22 at the Lodhi Gardens. Each interview-based conversation will last for 20 minutes.

Pooja Sood, director of Khoj, said it will be the first art marathon by Obrist in the subcontinent, second to the one held in China in 2008.

“A unique public event, the marathon will provide a critical understanding of art, its context and value other than in monetary terms,” Sood said.

Public art captured the imagination at the beginning of the last decade with interactive installations and mega exhibitions like the Delhi-based Khoj, the Kala Ghoda festival in Mumbai, the India Art Summit and state governments, who were inspired by examples in the West to beautify urban landscapes.

It serves the dual purpose of increasing artistic awareness and also helps clean up urban garbage.

“The administration must create suitable spaces for public art projects. They must clean up the existing clutter,” Artist Jogen Chowdhury said at a workshop on public art.

(Madhusree Chatterjee can be contacted at madhu.c@ians.in)