Smart park art in city enthrals denizens

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Bhubaneswar: A first-of-its-kind public art event was held at the redeveloped Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) Park (Smart Park) in Sahid Nagar, here Sunday.
The event was held under the Smart Park Art Work programme to promote public art and community participation in the parks.
Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) organised the programme as part of Street Art and Mural Project (STAMP) in association with Bhubaneswar Urban Knowledge Centre (BUKC) of the BDA.
Art features like graffiti walls, amphitheatre and dedicated spaces for community gardening were created in the park. The park is being developed on Child Friendly Design Principles. The STAMP has been used as a tool by the authorities to beautify spaces through transforming walls, flyovers, streets and public spaces with meaningful art and it earned rave reviews during the 22nd Asian Athletic Championships, held in the city, last year.
The smart park has 12 designated theme-based walls for murals and graffiti which are also envisioned to double up as open air art exhibition walls in the future. While the broader theme was ‘Art for Relaxation’ or ‘Art as Therapy’ for all the murals, the artists were divided into 12 different groups allowing them to pick a theme for creating the murals on both sides of the walls. The kids and community members joined these groups contributing in their own ways for the cause.
Sujit Mohapatra of Bakul Foundation said big murals in the parks are an innovative idea which will create positive environment among those who come here regularly. He said, “Though we had collaborated with city authorities for creating murals under flyovers and on the walls in the city, this is the first time we are doing it on designated walls in a park, which in itself is probably being done for the first time in the state”.
BSCL General Manager (Operations) Bijay Kumar Swain and Deputy Collector Khurda Talat Afreen were present at the venue and took part in the activities. Sources said all the three child-friendly Smart Parks in Saheed Nagar area have almost reached their completion stage and are expected to be formally inaugurated in the coming months.
As Bhubaneswar envisages becoming the first child-friendly city in India and has collaborated with Netherlands-based Bernard van Leer Foundation in this regard, several child-friendly initiatives in terms of city infrastructure as well as participatory planning with children at the centre have been planned as part of the Bhubaneswar Smart City proposal.