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Bus! Is this what we WANT?
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One artist points out that the spray paint used was not exactly an eco-friendly first step
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Whitewashing the issues?: Fifty buses are to be painted thus at a cost of Rs.20,000 each
MANY ATHLETES at Kanteerava Stadium paused mid-stride on the morning of Sankranti. Why had 50 painters and 10 installation artists gathered in these alien surroundings? Guesses proved wide of the mark. For the motley group had assembled in response to a written invitation from I.M. Vittala Murthy, Commissioner for Transport and Road Safety, to participate in an environmental awareness campaign during the department's ongoing Courtesy Month from January 15 to February 13.
Once the inaugural speeches were done, each artist picked up a spray can of enamel paint and set to work on two public transport buses painted dead white. Within a half-hour, they were transformed beyond recognition — with whorls and petals of paint, and messages that ranged from a misspelled `Not Polute (sic), Salute Bangalore' to `Green Bangalore,' from `Love Nature' to `Make Life Comfortable, Not Miserable.'
The idea was born when Vittala Murthy got together with eminent artist S.G. Vasudev over two months ago, to share thoughts on road safely and pollution. Could artists contribute constructively, wondered the civil servant. Spontaneously, Vasudev riposted: "We will, if you give us a hundred buses to paint." Honed to more practical dimensions, the informal Artists for Environment forum responded positively.
What of the fine print behind the artistic adventure? Vittala Murthy's January 8 letter to the artists read: "You will be provided with one bus during this one-month duration. You will be free to create your own imagery keeping the environmental awareness theme in mind. You will be paid an honorarium of Rs. 10,000 to paint on the bus, along with an additional Rs. 10,000 towards expenditure on material. You can take the professional help of people who are specialized in executing such projects. You can utilize the amount of Rs. 20,000 in any manner you deem fit. The buses thus painted will ply the roads according to plans envisaged by the department."
How was the programme funded? "Government funds were not used for this," reveals Vittala Murthy. "We raised funds from BMTC, KSRTC, the Pollution Control Board and vehicle dealers like Maruti and TVS."
How do participating artists — including Lalitha Shankar, Smitha Cariappa, Surekha, Babu Easwar Prasad, Chandranath Acharya, Anuradha Nalapat, Marisamachar and others — feel about the venture? Rekha Rao, daughter of the late K.K. Hebbar, says with reference to a similar campaign in Mumbai: "I wish we'd had time to think out our messages and visuals more clearly, perhaps with a group of students. These buses need realistic artwork, not just splashes of colour or scribbles. In Mumbai, the commuters were confused by the painted buses, because the real message was often obscured by the sponsor's logo." Raghavendra Rao seconds that as he mulls over his possible site-specific installation: "We have to be responsible for our messages." Another artist points out that the spray paint used was not exactly an eco-friendly first step. So, will spontaneously painted buses amount to visual pollution?
Environmentalist Suresh Heblikar, tracing impact factors like illiteracy and poverty, stresses: "This will make a difference, though perhaps not a lasting impact, about pollution. Awareness is a must at various levels, though we lack the consistency of sustained campaigns."
Bangalore's art community has revealed a flair for public interaction of late — through the Bangalore Habba art walkway, the Karnataka Kala Mela and the Khoj 2003 international workshop. That's a welcome move beyond studios and galleries. Courtesy Month will definitely heighten public visual awareness, emphasises Vasudev.
But how will it impact the everyday travails of Bangalore's urban commuter, in this pensioner's paradise turned boomtown within a decade? Will these messages for the masses assuage negative feelings about the non-existence of a viable rapid transport system, either underground or overhead?
"The bus-painting campaign is only a fire-fighting activity, not a solution," agrees Vittala Murthy, pointing out that over 500 new vehicles are registered daily in Bangalore.
The flag-off to Courtesy Month makes us wish aloud that the campaign's energy had been better canalised to cushion the bumpy ride of the Bangalore commuter.
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Bangalore
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