All stations, aglow with art

Like listening to engaging stories? How about soaking in some through installations, food trails, virtual reality experiences, poetry and performances? Pick a metro station in the city to be at on October 22 and 23 and the Art in Transit project will leave you spellbound. In what will be a visual treat, this public art initiative by the students of Bengaluru’s Srishti School of Art, Design & Technology, in collaboration with St+art India will shine the spotlight on how we as a city are transitioning in this two-day festival.

Now, a commutative boon, the metros weren’t always looked at as such. “We picked the metro stations because it engages with the city and the contradictions it holds. For instance, the metro wasn’t popular because of the number of trees that were cut. But this was inevitably, a form of transit that the city so desperately needed and is now being used,” says Amitabh Kumar, one of the leads on the project.

A giant mural, an unexpected virtual reality experience, shadow puppets telling a story or performances depicting the same, this festival aims to bring the community together to share stories about the time and place.

Bengalureans have not just been open to public art, their inquisitiveness borders on thrill when you involve them too! And this, the facilitators believe, was a great way to start a dialogue about the city while making these spaces more playful and interactive.

The areas that will pop to life this weekend includes Cubbon Park Metro Station, Cubbon Park, Bal Bhavan, Venkatappa Art Gallery and Vishvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum.

This is also a collaborative public art project with San Francisco which links the Civic Center BART Station in San Francisco and the Cubbon Park Metro Station in Bengaluru through event-based performance, art, design, and technological interventions.

A number of artists from the city and across the country are offering up a piece of their perspective through their art. According to Amitabh, “We decided to put something together not just for experience, but evocation. We believe that the city is within every artist and we wanted to bring it out,” he says.

For the students of Srishti, it’s an experience outside the classroom where their concepts change according to the public’s perception, while seasoned artists are trying to connect to the public with relevant art.

The Harvest Moon by Bengaluru-born artist Anpu Varkey catches your attention as you walk down from the Ulsoor Metro Station. “It’s my idea of a universal connect,” she says. In an age where people are seeking to connect through social media, there’s one thing up there in the sky that all of us have looked at and wished upon,” she adds about her moon that took two days to completion.
Our suggestion? Keep your eyes and ears peeled out for what these artists have in store for you across town.