How to marry art to public spaces

The Ministry of Works and Housing mandates that one percent of the cost entailed in the construction of a public building be reserved for works of art. That is a precondition for approval of a public project. The artworks at Mumbai and Bengaluru airports reflect this rule, and they do blend into the landscape. However, hurdles have to be crossed to achieve this, from choosing a particular work of art to incorporating it seamlessly into a public space.

Dignitaries at the launch of the guidance document in the city. 
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Recently, at an event at Bangalore International Centre, global management and strategy consulting firm Zinnov released a guidance document “Integrating Art Into Public Spaces” to show how to deal with those hurdles. Prepared in collaboration with Yamini Telkar, former head of Art Programme at Bangalore International Airport Limited, this document is in the public domain.

“Past Continuous”, an art exploring Bengaluru’s evolution into Silicon Valley.
| Photo Credit:
Ravi Hariani

A set of standards

The document is an attempt to establish a set of standards for high quality and accessible public spaces. It hopes to inspire like-minded corporates and individuals to adopt, implement and sustain projects in public spaces.

It is a handbook for identifying an appropriate art form for a public space, planning the budget, selecting artworks, navigating regulatory procedures and addressing the questions of maintenance and decommissioning.

Elaborating on the opportunity in this area, Pari Natarajan, CEO of Zinnov, said as per reports India was going to spend 1.72 trillion dollars in infrastructure projects in the next five years.

“If we were to consider 1-2% of public infrastructure being spent on art then we are looking at 17 to 34 billion dollars in art projects in India in the next five years. This is like the golden age of public art,” said Natarajan.

The guidance document.
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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS

Growing spaces

With demand for office space growing, there is opportunity in art as well.

“By 2030, 124 million sq ft. of office space will be leased with Bangalore being the front office for many Fortune 500 companies. The way these offices are being designed is changing with a lot more collaborative spaces and an opportunity to include art in these corporate public spaces,” said Natarajan.

Zinnov is currently working on a three-year road map to integrate art in public spaces by following the 4 A’s (Awareness, Advice, Assemble and Action).

Natarajan announced they would be collaborating with various stakeholders including the government, corporate leaders across realty, technology, and hospitality sectors to make art in public spaces more appealing.

It will also focus on implementation which will have Zinnov lend its expertise in providing end-to-end support for art integration, including project conceptualisation, budget planning, and resource management.

“We are working to create a larger ecosystem where we have enough curators and artists,” he said, adding that there was a need to build a case internally for art in CSR. This initiative is also aimed at creating an ecosystem of curators, urban planners, designers, architects, government officials and corporate partners. 

Heena Pari, Visual Artist, Creative Consultant and Advisor, Zinnov, pointed that they launched the “Public Spaces Initiative” by the installation of “Past Continuous” – an art piece exploring Bengaluru’s evolution into Silicon Valley.

The guidance document can be accessed on

File photo of artwork at Mumbai T2 Terminal
| Photo Credit:
MUMBAI

An illustration

At the launch of the guidance document, two artists — Yamini Telkar and Shanthamani Muddaiah — associated with integrating art at the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) held court. They shared their experience working on the BIAL project.

“We had a stakeholder engagement in 2019 at BIAL where we had artists, architects and the community attending it and this was before anything was crystallised,” says Yamini Telkar, Curator and former Head of the Art Programme, BIAL.

This was important because the T2 project at the Airport was defined as an “art programme” and not just another critical beautification project.

Open calls for art works from artists and integrating feedback were among the marked ways in which the conversations kept going. Emphasising the role of various players, Yamini says to make art in a public space work it must have the handwork of planners, people who are managing the space and those who are supposed to maintain it.

For art to be integrated into a public space, it has to become part of the environment and spark some change, said Yamini. “The key to integrating art into the public domain is to make it accessible and transparent and this document will help one walk through those steps,” she added.

Shanthamani Muddaiah, sculpture artist who has “Medhoot” installed in the Airport, felt putting art work at public spaces is more democratic and liberating. She also noted that compromises happen when art is featured in public spaces.