Artists told to ‘modify’ paintings in Chennai subway – Times of India

CHENNAI: An innocuous bid to recreate Chola-era paintings on the sidewalls of RBI subway on Rajaji Salai, as part of ‘Singara Chennai 2.0’ will now undergo ‘modifications’ as the Greater Chennai Corporation has asked the artists to not highlight ‘Hindu idols’ to avoid controversy. About 20% of the artwork has been completed.
Artists working on the project, requesting anonymity, told TOI there was pressure from groups which complained to the corporation. The civic body has denied any such external pressure. “No groups have opposed it. Some aspects of the paintings were not approved by Greater Chennai Corporation. So, we asked the contractor to rectify it. It is purely internal and there is no external pressure,” deputy commissioner (works) M S Prashanth told TOI.
Interestingly, on February 7, the corporation’s official twitter handle tweeted pictures of the art work including the idols and the officials did not seem to have found any issues with it.
Contractor J P K Vijay said he did not get prior approval on the design, but clarified that the concept was to recreate Chola-era paintings as a public art. “They (officials) today asked us to modify the idols. I explained the theme undertaken and further told them that paintings from other religious beliefs too will be included. We will be modifying some of the already done work,” he told TOI.
According to Vijay, his works focused on Tamil culture and his recent projects for the civic body were also widely appreciated. A group of about 15 artists from across the state are part of the project.
An artist, who too worked on the project so far, told TOI that even if there is no opposition, there is no requirement to modify as the artworks depicted Tamil culture and heritage and not religion as misunderstood.
The RBI subway, about 500 metres long, was built in 1966 and is one of the city’s important landmarks.