The intersection of Nila departmental store and hotel Fortune Pandiyan was the place to be these past 10 days. Under the curatorial direction of well known cartoonist from Chennai, Biswajit Balasubramanian, four young assistants shared their skills and talents on the blank walls of the recently renovated Bharathiyar Park near the Outpost. Hundreds of passers by were delighted and engaged with what was gradually unfolding. It was the work of Biswajit trying to re-humanise the public space.
Biswajit has always tried to find variations within the medium of cartoons on paper, fibre glass and animation. Known for his black and white line drawings and sketches and caricatures filled with colour that convey subtle and social messages laced in humour, he is often called the Mario Miranda of Chennai. This time round, he says, he loved the opportunity of using his artistic talents in Madurai because it was his maiden experience of painting public spaces.
Having forayed into fibreglass sculptures, one of his installation arts will also be up soon on a bare wall inside the park. “The idea is mine but it will be executed by a group of young artists from all over the country who work on sculptures made from scrap,” he says. It will project the racing mind of Bharathiyar cluttered with ideas and showing the typewriter keys popping up and down.
Biswajit took on the challenge of a new medium on such a scale for two reasons. “I was given the theme and that made it easy. I only had to research and read up everything about mahakavi Subramania Bharati,” he says, “and it also gave me the opportunity to give back to my home town.” He left Madurai in late eighties after completing his graduation from The American College.
He was told the park lay in disuse for years and was recently revived as part of a project initiated by the Soroptimist International (Madurai chapter) and the Corporation was keen on promoting street art tourism.
"I began to look at the park as a book," he explains. He imagined the boundary wall of the 1000 sq feet triangular park like a wrapper which had to be made colourful and attractive. Since the park stands in the middle of a high traffic zone, Biswajit decided to infuse a bit of cultural nourishment as a traffic calming measure. The outside walls he filled up with one liners of the poet and interpreted them in his creative style in the supporting visuals done in a combination of bright and powerful colours.
“All the sayings are simple and written in both English and Tamil, so that everyone can understand and enjoy while going on with their daily routines of commuting to work, running errands or even exploring a new city,” he says. Some of the panels stand out because while on the move Bharathiyar’s well-known verses “ Odivilayadupappa” and “ Kuyilpattu” can be easily recognised at a glance.
If some one liners such as ‘ act as you learn’ , ‘laziness destroys you’ are easy to comprehend through Biswajit’s cartoons, there are some that make you pause and think. A quirky kaleidoscope on the far end of one wall stands out. Explains Biswajit: “All of Bharathiyar’s work is in superlatives. For instance, he always said women are great, not just okay.” “Reading his works, I felt the poet viewed life through a kaleidoscope and never through the naked eye. Everything he saw differently and vibrantly,” he adds.
Biswajit's attempt has been to do justice to the poet who was clearly ahead of his time but very less is known about him. Wanting to provide a new perspective, he tried to imagine how Bharathiyar would have propagated his poetry in the 21st century. The thought triggered off the panel filled with social media icons and a battery showing 39% charge. “This is not any random number but 39 was the age at which Bharathiyar passed away,” he says.
Both sides of the walls are scattered with Bharathiyar’s phrases and also contain snippets of information from the life of a man who was not only a famous poet and a writer but also a journalist, activist and social reformer. Dressing up the park took 10 days as Biswajit came prepared with texts and chalk line drawings to mainstream his art of choice. The inside walls have been made text-heavy because people can sit inside the park and read at leisure.
If you are an enthusiast just galavant around the area to learn a bit more about Bharathiyar and how the small piece of land has triggered creativity.
QUOTES:
“Public art adds breadth to a city’s cultural landscape and Biswajit has done it with high levels of visual realism and painterly skills” – Sandeep Nanduri, Madurai Corporation Commissioner.
“Street art sight seeing can be a form of tourism and I hope locals and tourists will takeaway something from Bharathiyar Park in a glance” – Biswajit Balasubramanian
Street art excursions :
Arapalayam bus stand; Race Course Road, Gandhi Museum Road, Kalpalam Bridge, Nelpettai junction, Pasumalai, Ellis Nagar, Railway junction, New Jail Road
About the Artist
Biswajit Balasubramanian co-owns the Forum Art Gallery with his wife Shalini in Chennai. Though his latest passion is cartoon sculpting, he is right now excited about writing a 600-page graphic novel. It is like a detailed comic book for adults.
He got his first start in 2001 when he was asked by historian and the Editor of Madras Musings, S. Muthiah to sketch something that would lighten the mood of the fortnightly publication. His pocket cartoon ‘Ámazing’ still runs. Biswajit has contributed cartoons to The Hindu, The Times of India., Deccan Chronicle and Indian Express. He has illustrated several books with leading publishers, curated exhibitions, held solo shows and conducted cartoon workshops
