With the railway authority’s new policy to promote art and culture of Karnataka, paintings of different art forms have been done, in and around railway stations in Bangalore.
Walking into Bangalore City railway station, one can see artwork like Vorli, Ganjifa, Kalamkari, and Tanjore art. The Bangalore Cantonment station and metro stations are also being beautified.
R Venkatesh from the railway department said, “We decided upon this policy to install different artworks in all the railway stations to create awareness and promote the long lost art forms of Karnataka. We have collaborated with many local artists for this project and are aiming to implement in different districts like Yadgere, Belgaum, Bellary as well. We have allotted a budget of Rs. 6 to 7 lakh for each project.”
Railway authority in Bangalore’s new policy is aimed at promoting Karnataka’s rich art and culture. And, they are doing so by depicting the local art of the state done by local artists.
Sumangala Bhat, an artist working on the project from Shrishti Arts, said, “The work started in September and for now we have completed the artworks for the city railway station. The work at other railway stations is still going on. We have taken the help of several artists from rural Karnataka for this project”.
With the constant effort to portray the life and activities of Rural Karnataka through these artworks, Bangaloreans are very impressed by the artworks.
Akash Dev, a student, said, “The paintings are very interesting. There are small description boxes about the art forms under the paintings as well which are very informative. It is good to see and learn about the various art forms, that we normally didn’t know about, at these places”.
Experts say the idea of beautifying public spaces has not only gained momentum in Bangalore but other parts of the country too.
Vijay Khatri, an artist from Sevita Center for Arts, said, “It’s a great initiative as it is attractive and informative for the people at the same time. And, the fact that they have been done by local artists makes it all the more interesting. We can now see several public spaces like bus stops, metro stations, hospitals and flyovers being beautified the same way. Other cities like Jaipur and Kolkata have also implemented similar beautifying policies”.
This initiative has also been done to boost art and culture tourism in the state.
