Tram to become art gallery in Kolkata

An art gallery on a tram will be launched in Kolkata in the first week of December to celebrate the city's artistic spirit, West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC) Managing Director Rajanvir Singh Kapur said on Saturday.

Conceived by the WBTC, the Kolkata Tram Art Gallery would display a vista of art and paintings by contemporary artists. A tramcar has been modified in such a way that paintings can be easily displayed in its interiors.

"The idea of the Tram Art Gallery is to make art exhibitions accessible, especially for students. The gallery on wheels would reach all parts of the city, rather than people visiting a gallery in one corner of it," Kapur said.

On the days artists book the tram, people will be able to view their paintings on paying a nominal entry fee of Rs 6. The WBTC would be displaying a collection of old photos from its archive when there will be no booking,

"The tram would travel the entire city, and would be parked at major junctions like Esplanade, Shyambazar and Gariahat for a few hours daily or on alternate days, as per the artists' desire," so that people of central, north or south Kolkata respectively are able to see their work, a WBTC official said.

The tram would be available to artists at a daily rate of Rs 3,600. The charge for two days would be Rs 6,000 and for three days, Rs 8,000, and after that, it would be Rs 1,500 for each day.

There would be concessions of up to 50 per cent for artists who are students of any school or college and also those from charitable organisations doing an exhibition for any social cause, the official said.

The Tram Art Gallery has been readied by an in-house team of the WBTC at its Nonapukur workshop.