Delhiites to be educated through art project

Beginning January, Delhiites will get a chance to partake in an art project that will both inform and entertain them while on the move.

Divided into two sections, the project - "Metro Art" - will take people on a journey to the colonial era while also informing them about issues like women's safety and governance.

The project is a three-month-long collaborative project between Delhi Metro and India Habitat Centre here.

Photographs from the colonial era to the present time, which are a part of an exhibition 'The Long Exposure at Udaipur', will be exhibited at the Jor Bagh Metro station and graphics exploring the genre of crime and those that sensitise the community would be displayed at the Mandi House Metro station.

Explaining the idea behind the project, its curator Alka Pande said issues relating to gender, civil society, identity, governance and concerns of contemporary society will be highlighted.

"'The Long Exposure at Udaipur' centres around one of the largest collection of colonial photographs from the 1850s to the present time.

"Through the photographs it also becomes a narrator of history, of the spirit and times of the people. It is about representation and memory," Pande told IANS.

She added that crime and literature are themes which are familiar to people.

"The idea is to reach out to the commuters and sensitise them to social, political, cultural concerns through visual imagery," she said, adding that these graphics would be a part of an upcoming "Crime Writers Festival".

Pande explained that a dialogue would be created with the public through art and visual culture, the written text and the photographs.

"We will be putting up only prints, since original art works would require insurance and personalised security from vandalism," she said.