‘Bust’ing  the myth

BENGALURU:  Starting in the mid-90s’, Benagluru, once a laid-back Garden City, known for its pleasant climate, has undergone rapid urbanisation, not only losing much of its lustrous green cover, but also witnessing enormous socio-cultural changes, as more and more people across the country move to the city in the hopes of a brighter future.  

An upcoming exhibition titled On a Pedestal at Belaku Gallery on MG Road tries to encapsulate these changes through an unexpected medium – the various statues and sculptures dotting the city. “When you normally think of art, you tend to think of art in galleries and whatnot, but it’s important to remember that statutes are also a part of the visual art culture. They are very important because they are a visual representation of a society’s perceptions and aspirations,” says Ravikumar Kashi, a city-based visual artist, author, and visiting professor at the RV College of Architecture. 

Along with his two colleagues, Madhuri Rao, a practicing architect, and academic, and Salila Vanka, a professor of urban social theory, Kashi was interested in finding out how the city and its populace were expressing themselves through visual art in recent decades and how it differed to pre-liberalisation. “The statues that were erected in the city before the 90s’ were mostly done either by the British or the subsequent governments.

But following Rajkumar’s death in early 2000, a lot of pro-Kannada organisations started to erect his busts across the city. Even in the case of Puneeth Rajkumar, several statues were inaugurated within days of his death,” he says, adding that statues have increasingly become a means to express not only political but also socio-cultural aspirations. “We initially expected to find a few hundred statues and sculptures dotted around the city but were surprised to find more than 700, mostly in West and South Bengaluru. Most of them are busts and statues of figures like Rajkumar and BR Ambedkar, while 100 or so are abstract and creative sculptures,” he adds. 

Despite a considerable number of museums being located in Bengaluru, Kashi says that the city doesn’t have a museum culture similar to that of the West, where art exploration is encouraged from an early age, through art education. That has meant that the city’s populace doesn’t connect as much with the over a hundred or so abstract sculptures dotted around the city.

“Most of these sculptures are commissioned by the Bangalore Development Authority, unlike statutes of figures like Ambedkar, and Vivekananda, which are erected by the public themselves, although with support from local lawmakers,” he says. Kashi and his team also unearthed a curious fact through their research. “There are only about 13 statues of women in the entire city. Mother Teresa, Kempegowda I’s daughter-in-law Lakshmidevamma are among the ones who’ve been honoured with statues in the city,” he says. 

Furthermore, Kashi says the city has also witnessed a trend of ever-larger statues being erected, most of them as political and cultural markers. “Kempegowda’s statue at the Kempegowda International Airport is a prime example,” he concludes. 
 

BENGALURU:  Starting in the mid-90s’, Benagluru, once a laid-back Garden City, known for its pleasant climate, has undergone rapid urbanisation, not only losing much of its lustrous green cover, but also witnessing enormous socio-cultural changes, as more and more people across the country move to the city in the hopes of a brighter future.   An upcoming exhibition titled On a Pedestal at Belaku Gallery on MG Road tries to encapsulate these changes through an unexpected medium – the various statues and sculptures dotting the city. “When you normally think of art, you tend to think of art in galleries and whatnot, but it’s important to remember that statutes are also a part of the visual art culture. They are very important because they are a visual representation of a society’s perceptions and aspirations,” says Ravikumar Kashi, a city-based visual artist, author, and visiting professor at the RV College of Architecture.  Along with his two colleagues, Madhuri Rao, a practicing architect, and academic, and Salila Vanka, a professor of urban social theory, Kashi was interested in finding out how the city and its populace were expressing themselves through visual art in recent decades and how it differed to pre-liberalisation. “The statues that were erected in the city before the 90s’ were mostly done either by the British or the subsequent governments.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); But following Rajkumar’s death in early 2000, a lot of pro-Kannada organisations started to erect his busts across the city. Even in the case of Puneeth Rajkumar, several statues were inaugurated within days of his death,” he says, adding that statues have increasingly become a means to express not only political but also socio-cultural aspirations. “We initially expected to find a few hundred statues and sculptures dotted around the city but were surprised to find more than 700, mostly in West and South Bengaluru. Most of them are busts and statues of figures like Rajkumar and BR Ambedkar, while 100 or so are abstract and creative sculptures,” he adds.                Rani Abbakka, Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar circle Despite a considerable number of museums being located in Bengaluru, Kashi says that the city doesn’t have a museum culture similar to that of the West, where art exploration is encouraged from an early age, through art education. That has meant that the city’s populace doesn’t connect as much with the over a hundred or so abstract sculptures dotted around the city. D V Gundappa, Bull Temple Road Dandi March, Gandhi Bhavan A contemporary sculpture “Most of these sculptures are commissioned by the Bangalore Development Authority, unlike statutes of figures like Ambedkar, and Vivekananda, which are erected by the public themselves, although with support from local lawmakers,” he says. Kashi and his team also unearthed a curious fact through their research. “There are only about 13 statues of women in the entire city. Mother Teresa, Kempegowda I’s daughter-in-law Lakshmidevamma are among the ones who’ve been honoured with statues in the city,” he says.  Furthermore, Kashi says the city has also witnessed a trend of ever-larger statues being erected, most of them as political and cultural markers. “Kempegowda’s statue at the Kempegowda International Airport is a prime example,” he concludes.