'Art in Transit' for people on the move

'Metro'politan art

The one-and-a-half year journey of the ‘Art in Transit’ project to convert the Peenya Metro Station into a destination in itself has reached its final stop. Various events will be held on Wednesday to mark project’s completion.

To mark the completion of the project, various performances, a walk around the area, projection of videos of the work process, installations, among other activities will be organised at the station on December 16.

The project was initiated in July 2014, by Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology in collaboration with BMRCL, to add aesthetic value to the Peenya Station and convert it into a public space.

“When we started our project, the station was under construction. We spent the first three months just mapping and researching the area,” said Arzu Mistry, a core member of the ‘Art in Transit’ project.

By installing these art works, BMRCL seeks to foster a sense of pride and ownership among the riders and the neighbours living in Peenya. U A Vasanth Rao, BMRCL General Manager (Finance) said, “When such positive transformations happen in your area, people develop a sense of acknowledgment, like for the people residing in Peenya, the ‘Peenya metro station’ has became ‘my station’.”

We are trying to develop more spaces where people could find different kinds of engagements, from music to art, he added.

Around 150 students worked tirelessly on the project. Siddhanth Shetty, who graduated from Srishti Art School, created a space called ‘Grow your own hair or cut your own hair space’. “This is a space for the people to engage themselves. People can come to this space and try cutting their own hair.”

Jaivardhan Singh Channey, a final year student at Srishti, worked on an installation called ‘When objects breathe’. “I tried to capture human behaviour by installing two CCTV cameras at the platform. For example, how two strangers react when they see each other in a metro .”