Artists to bring splash of colours to Ukkadam

COIMBATORE: After decorating some of the city’s iconic buildings like the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital and the library building of the police commissioner’s office, New Delhi-based St+art Art India Foundation is in the city to decorate the walls of the Tamil Nadu slum clearance board’s tenements at Ukkadam.
The foundation has sent Amitabh Kumar from Bengaluru, Avinash Kumar from Jharkhand, Jeeva from Coimbatore and Chifumi from France to beautify the walls.
The theme is ‘The People and Environment of Ukkadam and Coimbatore’, said director of special projects Vikas Nagrare. “The artists began work on Thursday. Unlike our 2018 project, which mainly depicted people of Coimbatore and was painted on walls, which were tall and most visible in the heart of the city, this project called Ukkadam Art District Coimbatore aims to depict the essence of a location, which includes its environment, festivals, lifestyle, people and their professions,” he said.
The artists spent a lot of time researching the Ukkadam area by observing the lifestyle, meeting people and watching their activities. “Our paintings will depict the Ukkadam Periyakulam and maybe some more lakes and the life around them. We plan to depict the migratory birds visiting the district, which is a popular nesting spot for pelicans,” said Nagrare. “Our interactions with people showed that Ukkadam has a large migratory population, as many displaced people settle there. They will also be depicted. Our research is an ongoing process, with our artists continuing to roam the city and conceptualize their art.”
The artists of the foundation, when they were in the city in 2018, had spotted Ukkadam as a probable location to create an art district. “But the idea materialized after they were invited for a beautification project recently by the city corporation. An art district is basically a campus, where people walking or driving through can get to see a lot of life-size art,” Nagrare said.
The artists will be painting the four walls using wall paints sponsored by Asian Paints. “ The corporation had invited the artists over to beautify the slum tenements. Wall arts will create a sense of pride among the residents and motivate them to keep the area clean. Maybe, one day, it could become a tourist attraction,” president of the Residents Awareness Association of Coimbatore (Raac) R Raveendran said. “Wall art is one measure but we plan to increase greenery and cleanliness also.”
The artists will finish their work by March 15.