VMC uproots sculpture; sentiments hurt, say artists

Vadodara: Often dubbed as the cultural capital of Gujarat, the city is home to globally renowned artists. But the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC), seemingly bereft of finer aesthetic nuances, recently tore down a beautiful piece of artwork installed at the Fatehgunj circle.
An 11-feet-high artwork depicting the contemporary version of trees was cut from the bottom and removed from the crossroad about two weeks ago. The artist community in the city is stunned to see that the civic body has little respect for such public art.
Made from iron and steel, the sculpture, weighing about 300 kilogrammes, was designed especially for the Fatehgunj crossroad considering the flyover above and the busy traffic movement.
Shocked after he learnt how the VMC pulled down the sculpture, Vinod Patel who had made the sculpture with co-artist Himanshu Joshi, told TOI, “I had no idea that the artwork was removed from the crossroad under the flyover. It was only after a friend informed me about the missing sculpture that I learnt that it has been uprooted from the spot.”
Patel said that it is the VMC’s prerogative to shift the artworks and install new ones. “But they (VMC) sliced the sculpture from the bottom side to remove it. Is this how artwork is treated in our city? The sculpture was attached to a plate below with nuts and bolts. If they had called us, we could have removed it without causing any damage to the artwork,” he alleged.
Pained to see how the civic body treated their sculpture, Joshi said, “We soon found out that the sculpture has been dumped in the sculpture park at Harni and we have no idea what they will do with it now. This is not how art should be treated in the city that is famously called ‘Kalanagri’!”
When contacted, Rajesh Chauhan, VMC executive engineer, roads department said, “A new artwork is being planned at the spot, probably on the theme of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. So, the current sculpture was removed. But we haven’t cut it. The contractor, who installed the work, removed it safely and now it has been kept in the sculpture park at Harni.”
This now-removed metal artwork had replaced an iconic sculpture ‘Banyan Tree’. Interestingly, the new sculpture was made by reputed artist late Nagji Patel who had expressed displeasure over the way the VMC had initially treated his artwork when the flyover was planned eight years ago!