Credit: Special arrangement
The government is open to reconstituting the Bangalore Urban Arts Commission, established in 1976, to safeguard the city’s aesthetics and built heritage. The Commission was disbanded in 2002.
Shalini Rajaneesh, additional chief secretary, government of Karnataka, was part of a panel that discussed the city’s efforts to engage with its spaces through the spirit of art. She responded positively to the suggestion that the city needed such a commission to preserve its heritage.
The discussion was part of the inauguration of an art festival hosted by ArtMantram. The festival opened on Thursday at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Vasanth Nagar, and is on till January 25, across multiple locations.
Yumna Hari Singh, president of ArtMantram, urged the government to reconstitute the commission. The commission’s role is to advise on urban aesthetics, public art, and heritage integration in Bengaluru’s planning and development processes.
In another session, artists Isabelita Virtual and Karin Fyhrie joined industry professionals Divya Tak and Ganesaraman Kalyanasundaram to discuss generative AI’s potential as a creative tool. Divya noted that the human touch could significantly enhance creative output, while Kalyanasundaram emphasised that AI should augment and not replace human creativity. The session was moderated by Yumna.
M Maheshwar Rao (chief commissioner, GBA), Sudhakar Rao (former chief secretary, government of Karnataka), and Priyanka Mary Francis (director of NGMA) were part of the inaugural panel.
Another session on ecology and mental health featured Dr Vivek Benegal, Nimhans, Anita Reddy, founder of NGO Dwaraka, and architect Naresh Narasimhan.
Narasimhan pointed out that better-designed spaces lead to improved behaviour among people, noting that aesthetically pleasing
areas tend to be better maintained, as evidenced by discussions with pourakarmikas.
Another session discussed conservation and cultural spaces, and featured Priya Chetty-Rajgopal, founder, Heritage Beku, and activist-artist Gayathri Shetty. It was moderated by Jyothi Gupta from Christ (deemed to be) University.
ArtMantram is a non-profit trust established by Yumna, in 2000.