Toilet in the middle of road? Art work bares potholes

Creating a broken toilet bang in the middle of busy Shivajinagar bus stand road is the latest effort by artist Baadal Nanjundaswamy to highlight Bengaluru’s appalling civic infrastructure.

Nanjundaswamy says it has been a while since he used canvas to paint as he finds Bengaluru’s roads more inviting to paint on with each pothole telling a story. He laments that citizens are “suffering in silence” without speaking out against pothole-riddled roads.

“Unless a person is injured grievously or dies while negotiating a pothole, the condition of roads never actually makes news. Many people may have suffered internal injuries caused by the potholes, but these have gone unnoticed. In order to get the attention of our leaders, it becomes important that every pothole is highlighted,” he said. He said the elected representatives must provide at least the basic facilities such as good roads, drainage and water to the people.

“As artists, we need to have the freedom to express our views and concerns about Bengaluru, but there is always a fear or slight hesitation while creating an artistic impression of such a kind. If our satiric work is taken as positive feedback by officials and politicians, it will only encourage us. But if it is taken negatively, the problems of bad roads will remain unsolved,” he added.

Nanjundaswamy, however, said he never followed up on his earlier work: whether it prompted officials to set the problem right. As an artist, he says, it is his duty to use his talent to highlight the problems and alert the officials and politicians to do theirs.