Arteria to add colour to city walls

Third phase of project for beautification gets under way in capital

Artists at work as part of the third phase of Arteria project in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday.

Arteria, a project for beautification of city walls with artwork, is set to be implemented across all 14 districts.

Minister for Tourism P.A. Mohamed Riyas on Thursday said the State government would consider beautifying city spaces in all districts by bringing them under the purview of Arteria, whose third phase was under implementation in the capital city.

He was speaking to mediapersons after visiting an artwork at the Palayam underpass. The idea was not only to improve the cityscape, but to make the visitors feel positive, the Minister said.

The colourful images at the Palayam underpass are being painted as part of Arteria, launched in 2015 by the Tourism Department in association with the District Tourism Promotion Council, to cover the city walls with paintings by renowned artists.

Arteria has been seeing the conversion of walls and fences of public, private, and cooperative entities into canvases of creativity. The project’s first two phases (in 2015 and 2016) envisaged 25-odd paintings by as many artists.

It succeeded in completing a work by renowned artist K.G. Subramanyan (1924-2016) without the supervision of the Kerala-born master.

In January this year, the paintings under Arteria were brightened up after the works had dulled in the past half a decade.

The third phase of Arteria will see wall murals come up along the Akkulam bypass at Kuzhivila Junction, St. Joseph’s School and the Museum, besides the Palayam underpass.

This phase features nearly 20 graffiti artists and their team members from across the State.