Power of art: Patna's Vidyut Bhawan facade turned into vibrant canvas

Commuters passing by Vidyut Bhawan on Patna's famous Bailey Ro are w stopping to mire it as a team of Indian and foreign artists have transformed its dull face into a vibrant matic artwork with a subtle mess on preserving nature.

Over last three weeks, five artists, including two from Argentina, laboured on four separate wall arts spanning face of high-rise building that houses offices of power department of Bihar government.

most prominent among m is a 70 ft-high mural med on preservation of environment and biodiversity painted by Argentine duo Emmanuel Alaniz and Federica, roughly titled 'We are all light'.

giant artwork on side wall of Bhawan is first thing any visitor or passer-by tices, which stands out in its colourful glory.

wall divided by windows shaft in middle, on right depicts a girl in salwar kameez, sporting plaited hair and holding a bird in her hand, in backdrop of a tree, running stream and a bright sun, while a deer stands next to her.

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left portion portrays a boy holding a plant in his hand surrounded by lush vegetation, vibrant flowers and wildlife, including a monkey that hangs upside down from a tree branch, as depicted on top of wall.

"Can art make people think? Can it hold ir attention? We feel, it can, and that is why se messs have been embedded into our work. work portrays desire to co-exist with nature, and boy represents flora while girl represents fauna. So, we humans must respect flora and fauna," Emmanuel told PTI.

His partner Federica who jointly executed work, said, she and Emmanuel first took a little tour of Patna to understand people and culture of city and wall art reflects those aspects.

" two characters are inspired from real life, and we met a boy and a girl who are hearing-impaired, and se two characters in our painting represent m," he said.

project is being executed by Mumbai-based art group St+Art, whose projects have literally transformed Lodhi Colony in Delhi into a 'Lodhi Art District'.

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"Senior officials of power department of Bihar government contacted us and y wanted a similar project done at Vidyut Bhawan. project includes four separate wall arts, including one on its main face, and below which an art installation should be put up soon," Project Manr at St+Art, Ritesh Sharma said, ding plastic paint has been provided by Asian Paints.

or two arts are depicted on side walls, on or side of blue-hued building, and one portrays a woman switching on a light while or shows an old man reaching out to protect a flame kept in a recess, glow of light in both cases depicted exquisitely.

Artist Johnson Singh, who hails from rast said, he researched on clothing style of Bihar, both for men and women, before conceptualising two art works, which has been executed by Rajkot-based artist Munir Bukhari.

Singh also conceptualised and painted mural on centre of Bhawan's face which has plenty of floral elements, and spans about 60 ft x 6 ft.

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Sharma said, secretary of power department really appreciated Lodhi Art District and plans to replicate something similar in Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) Colony in Patna.

"We saw Mhubani painting done on walls here when we arrived in Patna. Around same time re was incessant rain that eventually led to flooding in most parts of city. We were affected too and h to be shifted to a hotel after guest house got flooded," he said.

idea was to give Patna a matic artwork of a scale that has t been done before, and transform ordinary buildings into vibrant culture-driven landmarks while sending out a mess on environmental preservation, energy saving and green energy, he said.

Emmanuel feels that public art is more powerful than those kept in galleries for a select audience.

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"Art has power and in this case we have turned a building associated with power or electricity into an artwork. People are curiously stopping by, as y were when we were painting it. And, I always believe in 'butterfly effect'. If our art can inspire one child and instil love for nature in him, and maybe when he or she grows up to become a prime minister or CEO or actor or engineer, that person will be kind to nature."

"In our greed, we are today destroying jungles and creating concrete jungle, drying up lakes to make buildings. And, we think, wider streets and factories are only metrics of development. But, it is t. We need to strike a right balance, orwise, more cities will see what Patna saw recently," he said.

Bihar State Power Holding Company Ltd, alrey runs an 'Energy Cafe' in premises of Vidyut Bhawan started in 2017 with recycled scrap.

Inside cafe, old oil drums and unused power equipment have invatively been used as chairs and tables. A rear portion of an old Ambassor car is used as a sofa. 

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