An art initiative, ‘Colours of Kolkata’, is attempting to add colour to Kolkata by celebrating the city’s diversity of Kolkata on the 75th Independence Day. The campaign, which will begin at the West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC) tram depot in Park Circus, hopes to add colours to the mundane city streets of Kolkata.
This year marks the 100 years birth anniversary of Satyajit Ray and the 160th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, the two stalwarts of street painting.
In the ‘Colours of Kolkata’ initiative, which has been started by the WBTC, artists will be painting the depot walls, mostly located in the heart of the city in prime locations, to celebrate the ‘City of Joy’ and her famous people.
“A lot of times people spit and deface our depot walls. It looks bad. This would add an artsy touch to the art capital of India and also maybe discourage people from spoiling the walls,” said MD of WBTC, Rajanvir Singh Kapur.
“In future, eminent artists of Kolkata will be invited to help in creating such public art at prominent locations to make the city of joy even more beautiful,” he added.
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The Colours of Kolkata will start from Park Circus and will cover the walls of most of the depots in the city till Durga Puja. The places in line are Tollygunge, opposite Tolly Club and Gariahat, near Ballygunge Phari, which also houses the Tram World.
The Tram World was launched in December 2020 commemorating the 140th anniversary of the foundation of Calcutta Tramways Company in London. It’s one of a kind tram museum in the whole world.
The first two artworks have been curated by WBTC in collaboration with a city-based artist, Mudar Patherya.
“The objective of Colours Of Kolkata is to utilise the public walls of the city to send out a singular message – that Kolkata is artificially and aesthetically one of the most vibrant cities of the country. I am thankful to WBTC for giving me this opportunity and the movement, which is intended to attract a variety of artists to help put the city’s best face forward,” said Patherya.
Once completed over all the depot walls, this would be a first-of-its-kind initiative anywhere in an Indian city. Kolkata is known as the art capital of India and this will only add to its glory.
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Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/cities/kolkata/story/colours-of-kolkata-art-initiative-to-celebrate-city-of-joy-on-75th-independence-day-1840943-2021-08-15
