JOIN USIllustrations recall charm of pre-pandemic Bengaluru
Sangeetha Alwar, illustrator and professor of English, is paying tribute to Bengaluru with a series of colourful illustrations called ‘Illustrated Bangalore’.
“My illustration journey began when I moved to Bengaluru after having lived in different cities in South India. The city has been a big part of my growth and has given me a lot along the way,” she told Metrolife.
Currently working from home in Mysuru, the self-trained artist is yearning to get back to Bengaluru. “I wonder if the city will be the same once I get back,” she says. So far, she has posted four artworks: a grinning flower seller at KR Market, a waiter with the famous stack of dosas at Vidyarthi Bhavan, an Indian Coffee House server and Blossom Book House featuring its friendly owner Mayi Gowda.
“All these places hold some meaning in my life. It is not just the place but also the people that make it special and that is what I want to highlight in my work,” she says. She plans 10 to 15 works in this series, featuring both famous and less-known locations. “I’m planning an illustration around Christ College and its infamous security guards, and also one around the small tea stalls we see on almost every lane. There’s so much more to the city than what we see online about traffic and the hustle-bustle,” she says.
The paintings have received widespread appreciation from fellow Bengalureans and the Kannada diaspora.
“It surprised me how much attention the new series got across social media. I had so many of my students messaging me to say how much they missed the city and its streets,” says Sangeetha, who teaches English at the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media.
An older series she did took characters from Raja Ravi Varma paintings and placed them in modern Bengaluru locations like Bookworm and Koshy’s.
Sangeetha’s artwork
can be found on Instagram
@Ms.Alwar.