“We look at traditional libraries as places of learning, but what if we were to look at the city and earth as co-facilitators of knowledge too?” asks Yash Bhandari, the curator of Living Libraries, a new research project launched by Art in Transit, a public art and pedagogic initiative facilitated by the Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology (SMI) Bengaluru, in collaboration with the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRCL) and other city-based artists and organisations.
The core philosophy of this project is “education, ecology and community… a way of looking at spaces in the world with a non-human lens.”
At an esoteric, philosophical level, this initiative is also a way of remembering this age and time, capturing aspects of life that one can capture and put in a library, according to Niret Alva, who currently leads Art in Transit. “It challenges us to look at our everyday situation as it will not be there tomorrow in terms of ecology and ecosystem,” says the award-winning journalist and filmmaker. “We want to challenge young people to think about these things and inspire others to think about them too.”
Open Studio
On July 27, Living Libraries will be unveiled, beginning with an open studio at the Cubbon Park metro station. The event, which starts at 10 a.m., will offer a mini art exhibit, film screenings, workshops, and installations in the station space and will be open to the public.
A quaint series of posters representing participants’ journals and capturing various aspects of the city, such as sketches of Blossom Book House, auto rickshaws and filter coffee, flowering trees and scenes from inside the metro, are already up on the wall of Art in Transit’s studio at the Cubbon Park metro station. Some of the other eclectic exhibits jostling for space here include a collage of photographs, big sheets of brown paper on which notes are scribbled, a range of book-cover designs and some nature-focused memes, among others. And yes, more are on their way.
Pranati Vijay, who has created some of these exhibits, feels that they offer a guide for people to understand their environment better and encourage appreciation for nature. “We are looking to create something that helps others learn about Bengaluru ecology, specifically Cubbon Park since we are basing it here,” she says.
A nature walk organised as part of the internship.
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SPECIAL ARRAGEMENT
A decade of collaboration
This is the tenth year of SMI’s collaboration with BMRCL, an initiative that began back in 2014. “It is a very old relationship,” says Niret, listing some other initiatives that also fall under the Art in Transit umbrella. Some of these include the Metro Neighbourhood Project, which sees these stations as creative community centres; Water Stories at the Cubbon Park metro station, which focuses on the Mannu Vaddars of the Bhovi community of Bengaluru; Chirps of Bengaluru, also at the Cubbon Park metro station, which offers commuters a glimpse of the birds residing in the city and The Pillars of Bengaluru at the Biocon Hebbagoddi Station. “We see stations as part of a wider community,” says Niret, describing Art in Transit as a framework that helps create a context for art-based education based in the real world.
According to the institute’s website, over 700 students, more than 200 city, national and international artists and about 20 faculty members have studied, researched and executed temporary and permanent public art and design projects at the Peenya, Chickpete, Cubbon Park, M.G. Road and Majestic metro stations. “Art in Transit has explored the potential for metro stations to be a space for place-based learning beyond classroom walls,” states the website, adding that the project offers “an immersion in communities and an opportunity to celebrate the uniqueness and character of neighbourhoods around the metro stations and across the city.”
As with all initiatives under the Art in Transit umbrella, community participation is at the heart of Living Libraries, says Dr. Arindam Das, the director of SMI. As an institution, SMI goes beyond aesthetics, closely examining the impact of design, whether socio-cultural, financial or environmental, he says. “Engaging with the community as practitioners is a very important part of our learning,” explains Dr. Das, adding that initiatives like Living Libraries can give students the confidence and conviction that they can do something for the community. “We have to take Bengaluru forward as a learning city and co-create neighbourhoods with local partnerships.”
Interns preparing for the launch of Living Libraries.
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SPECIAL ARRAGEMENT
Summer internship
In May this year, Art in Transit launched a two-month-long summer internship, receiving multiple applications for it and finally shortlisting 14 practitioners, both from SMI and outside the institute, all of whom are exhibiting their work and conducting workshops at the open studio on July 27. As part of this internship, these young people went on nature walks and hikes, were trained in botanical illustrations, brainstormed, researched, and participated in journaling sessions. “The students signed on this summer– when they could have been holidaying — and have been working continuously on it,” says Niret.
Dhrithi J.M., another participant, talks about some of these activities and how they inspired the various exhibits on display. “We have been participating in a lot of group activities like treks and butterfly walks, trying to find inspiration there,” she says. For instance, Tanya Justin Michele, another participant, will be hosting an origami workshop based on the butterfly walk, she points out. “We are trying to create something from our personal research and interest.”
A group photo of the participants.
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRAGEMENT
Multiple displays
Other highlights of the open studio include an illustration design workshop, a crochet circle, an art journal exhibit, a display of paintings and sketches and a film screening of Niret’s Operation Hot Pursuit, an undercover documentary on the illegal ivory trade.
So, how does putting art and design in public spaces impact the practitioners and the larger communities in which they are situated? “As a larger civic society, we (educators/artists/practitioners /researchers) are isolated in studios and galleries, and the artistic process has become more and more exclusive,” says Yash, pointing out that being situated directly in the public eye allows for more dialogue and engagement with diverse people, whether it be metro employees or commuters who walk past these exhibits. “They are curious about this process. The thought, intent and imagination of what is possible allows us to be more vulnerable and focused on what it means to be human.”
All are welcome to The Living Libraries open studio. To learn more, log in to artintransit_bangalore on Instagram or email yash.bhandari@manipal.edu.
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