From November onwards, four Namma Metro stations will tell passengers a story about Bengaluru through art.
As part of a tie-up with several art institutions around the city, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRCL) has decided to dedicate four stations to the art of story-telling.
Festival of Stories
Called the ‘Festival of Stories’, the artwork will include murals and paintings and tracking the evolution of the city into a major metropolis over the years. Work on the murals has already begun.
In October, students, faculty and well-known artists from around the country started work at the M.G. Road Metro Station, the Kempegowda Majestic Metro station, the Cubbon Park metro station and the Sampige Road metro station.
Over the next two weeks, there will be several events around the Cubbon Park metro station which will also witness performances by various artistes, talks, art installations and guided tours of the neighbourhood. This will be followed up by a street art festival, organisers said.
Involving the people
The project will include muralist Harsh Vardhan Kadam, curator Orijit Sen, graphic storyteller George Mathan, visual artist Sameer Kulavoor and street artists Collin van der Sluijs and Okuda. “There will be stories of Bengaluru that will bring out a sense of nostalgia in Metro users. The idea of helping members of the public decide on what is displayed at public places is important to us. We would like to increase the number of stations which display such art in the future as well,” said U.A. Vasanth Rao, General Manager (Finance).
M.G. Road metro station
One of the first metro stations in the city, the M.G. Road metro station for the longest time had a static display of a metro coach before Namma Metro began operations. The facade of the station that faces Church Street will be used as a canvas for story telling.
Kempegowda Station
Artists will work on the front facade, landing foyer, ticket counter, platform space and the walls leading to the platform at Majestic station.
Cubbon Park station
Located next to the one of the city’s large lung spaces, this station is also close to the Chinnaswamy stadium. Murals will be painted at the coolant facade, Cubbon Park and Chinnaswamy stadium entry gates.
Sampige Road station
Located in Malleshwaram, the art work will be focused on the back wall of the Mantri Mall station.
The artwork will
track the evolution
of the city into a major metropolis
over the years
