Design school students to liven up Cubbon Park Metro station

The greyscale palette of Cubbon Park Metro station will soon be brightened up with splashes of colour. Students from Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology along with other collaborating artists are bringing art to public spaces as part of their ‘Art in Transit’ project.

After a successful pilot project in Peenya station which lasted one and a half years, the initiative has now moved here. “We have given them permission to work in Cubbon Park Metro station for now. This effort will enhance the art and cultural ethos of the city,” said Vasanth Rao, the spokesperson of BMRCL.

The artists will be creating installations like murals, sculptures and other three-dimensional structures. A new seating arrangement, inspired by the park outside, was added last week at the platform level. While some installations will be permanent, there will be temporary creations too which will engage with the commuters.

“The work we do in this project is very context-oriented. The installations and murals in the Cubbon Park Metro station are inspired by the park and by the history of this part of the city,” said Aditya Bharadwaj, a former student and now a part of the team that mentors the artists.

Shravan Rao, a third year student at the institute, has installed two doors on either side of a pillar to give passengers going in and out of the station a glimpse of what awaits them. “Inside the door on the exit side, I will be painting a picture of what the passengers are going to see outside-buildings, traffic and so on. Inside the other door, there will be a painting of the underground conveying the idea of isolation.” Rao will also be painting portraits of the staff whom he calls “the backbone of the Metro”.

An exchange student from Vienna, Matthias Ramsey, has begun his work on a mural on a pillar inside the station. “I am learning about the history and culture of this area and of the city because I want to bring those elements into the mural,” said Ramsey, who will be in the city for one semester.