Playful pandas, the majestic golden eagle, white tigers, the national bird peacock, white and black swans and a double humped camel will now become a part of the busy Begumpet-Rasoolpura stretch.
Artfully crafted in the form of ‘semi-realistic high relief murals’, these endangered species are set to come alive in myriad colours on the pillars of old Begumpet airport flyover.
Symbolic
The mural art work is being done up for the upcoming 11th conference of parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, starting October 1. And quite aptly, the murals represent the diverse life forms in the ecosystem and the need for conservation, which is also the theme of the biodiversity meet. “All these animals are endangered. If destruction of their habitat continues, they will vanish from our planet. We wanted to remind public and the delegates about this reality,” said Chintha Swamy, JNTU Arts College alumni who conceptualised the project.
According to the artist, the style of high relief mural work involves creating sculptures that give an impression of the sculpted material being raised a bit above the background. He has also used a unique combination of material for the project.
“We used fibre glass and cement as the medium. We have mixed granite powder and white cement to prepare a paste that provides solidity and will hold together the animal figures to the pillars for a long time. I am confident that the murals will last for years to come,” he said.
The entire crafting of the murals was done in situ by artists from Visakhapatnam and Rajahmundry, who had previous experience with fibre glass and cement. “The crafting work is over and we are in the process of painting the figures,” Mr. Swamy added.
Plans are also afoot to depict biodiversity of the aquatic life on the ramps of the flyover. “The ramps on both the sides will have murals depicting diverse aquatic life forms in ocean. We will depict dolphins, turtles, whales and other endangered aquatic life,” Mr. Swamy said.
