Through the decades, Delhi has been witness to numerous phases of development and redevelopment, with an ever expanding population and environ. The city has grown, and so has its infrastructure with a complex web of flyovers and umpteen number of buildings defining this concrete jungle. But in this hustle-bustle to grow and develop, art and aesthetics were left behind somewhere, ignored and forgotten. No wonder then that India?s capital, a city that aspires to be a global city, lacks considerably in public art. Public art goes far beyond than just beautifying a city and attracting tourism. It is expected to communicate with the citizens and establish a connect which bestows the residents of a city with a sense of pride and belonging. It serves as a rallying point for interaction and engages the aesthetics of individuals with that of the city. It can nurture the mind-scape of a city. And with the Delhi administration and other agencies taking a note of this deficiency, hopes for the city to acquire a new face with more public art installations is high.
According to Keshav Chandra, special secretary to the Delhi Chief Minister, the Delhi government is seriously looking at public art development in the city but doesn?t want to do anything in undue haste. ?Public art gives character to a city and keeps you rooted to your culture and history. We want it to be done after a lot of deliberation as it can be a sensitive matter,? he says. Delhi administration is in the process of preparing a panel of public art projects by artists on its newly formed public art committee. ?The panel of projects would be forwarded as proposals to the city?s infrastructure agencies Public Works Department (PWD), New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), for implementation according to their choice,? he says.
?Delhi currently has little public art to offer with the only examples being India Gate, Teen Murti, Dandi March, Yaksh and Yakshini at the RBI head office and the stainless steel sprouts at AIIMS flyover. Till now, there was no focussed intervention for developing public art in the city,? says Anand Tiwari, NDMC spokesperson. According to Tiwari, NDMC has formulated a public art policy and proposals from various artists are being considered for installation at various locations. ?We are looking at a sustainable policy for bringing art into the public domain. Good municipalities across the world are doing it and for any city to be a world city, it is an important component,? he adds. And while the latest addition in this short public art list, the sprouts, have been the subject of much criticism and debate, India Gate indisputably has been a part of the city?s identity.
While the NDMC is still working on its policy and approach to public art, the PWD has already set the ball rolling with two installations of public art being developed at the Chhatrsal Stadium and Thyagraj Stadium ahead of the much hyped Commonwealth Games in October this year. The two installation projects, being described as ?stainless steel abstract human figurines on sports? by officials, are expected to be unveiled by September at the two stadiums. Kunal Kalra, the artist working on these two projects, feels that public art brings a welcome change and breaks the monotony of concrete structures in a city?s landscape. ?Public art is something that the public can understand. People should be able to look at it and think about the broader theme behind it. Public art lends identity to a city and helps in developing tourism. Also, it helps us in branding and projecting our cities the way we want to,? says Kalra.
According to KT Ravindran, chairman, DUAC, the aim of this new-found thrust on public art is ?to make Delhi a thinking city?. ?Our aim is to create a healthy city. Every city has an identity and we should celebrate that,? he says. He further adds that the DUAC?s role is that of a catalyst. ?When building plans come to the DUAC for approval, we insist on the the artwork specifications, which according to rules should be one to two percent of the construction cost. And any construction is not approved by the DUAC until we see the actual placement of the artwork in the finished construction,? he says.
But why couldn?t the city develop public art spaces in the last so many years?
?The problem has been with the plans that were adopted for the city?s development. Little was taken into account regarding the cultural amenities that the community needs. There is hardly any imagination visible in the way Delhi has been developed over the years,? says Pooja Sood, Director of Khoj International Artists Association, which has done considerable work on public art. ?In fact art is something that everyone can do to an extent, then why wasn?t it professionalised in all these years?? she asks.
Kalra, however, feels that the city was till recently grappling with basic public infrastructure development, which is of prime importance. ?Our economy is growing fast and the first priority for any city would be to develop its basic infrastructure and that is the same with Delhi. But now since a lot of that has been done, we can concentrate on other important aspects like public art and beautification,? he says.
Well known artist Subodh Gupta, one of whose public art projects, ?The Tree? is reportedly under serious consideration by the NDMC, believes that in this age of rapidly changing lifestyles and technology, public art too will find a place for itself in Delhi?s social and cultural life. ?Metro came to Delhi, Commonwealth Games are coming to Delhi and things are changing fast around us. India is growing and with development, we?ll see ourselves looking seriously at public art development,? he says. While sections of the media reported earlier that ?The Tree? costing around Rs three crore, has been finalised by the NDMC as one of its installations, Gupta says that it?s still not confirmed and declines to comment further on the project. ?If and when the project is cleared by the authorities, I?ll be speaking about it. But not at the moment,? he says.
Meanwhile, Ravindran seems pleased with the first steps the city is taking towards public art development. ?The mind-scape of the city is starting to engage with art and the cultural environment is becoming better. Artists are now getting opportunities to engage with the city and finally we are seeing some success in our efforts,? he says. And what are the hurdles? ?The only major hurdle has been the fact that this has started out so late. We could have had a much more involved and deliberative process for the development of public art in Delhi,? he says. Delhi can certainly take inspiration from Vancouver as the Canadian city initiated one of the most ambitious public art programmes to date with a $5.95 million public art programme specially for the 2010 Winter Olympics. More than 25 permanent and temporary artworks were a part of the endeavour.
So while proposals are drawn regarding public art in the city, most artists, art lovers and citizens hope that these meet their logical end? as pieces of public art on the streets of Delhi. And as the work on public art projects goes on at the two PWD stadiums for the Commonwealth Games, that hope seems to get stronger.