Bhubaneswar: Smart City’s walls get smarter with eye-catching 3D murals

BHUBANESWAR: People crossing the road at Jaydev Vihar Square here should be forgiven if they take a second or two longer than usual to make their way across the busy intersection; after all, most of them cannot take their eyes off a ‘live’ hockey match being played out on a wall under the flyover bridge there.
Created by Julio Jimenez — originally from Mexico and now a resident of the US — the three-dimensional (3D) mural is one of a series to have brightened the city’s walls in the run-up to the Men’s Hockey World Cup, which will begin next Wednesday.Four international artists from the US — Tracy Lee Stum, Anat Ronen, Zee Schindler and Jimenez — conceptualized and executed the murals that can be seen at major junctions like Acharya Vihar, Vani Vihar, near Nayapalli Big Bazaar and Kalinga Stadium.
The four artists were brought here by the city-based organization Bakul Foundation as part of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation’s Street Art and Mural Projects (STAMP). Work on the wall art began on November 1 and took 15 days to be completed.
“Murals on public walls have been a common sight in Bhubaneswar since 2007. The concept got a new lease of life in 2017 with the STAMP project. Three-dimensional painting is new to the city,” said Sujit Mohapatra, founder of Bakul Foundation.
One of the biggest murals — measuring a whopping 110 feet by 24 feet — has come up on the flyover wall in front of Utkal University’s main gate at Vani Vihar. It has been created by Tracy Lee Stum, who holds a Guinness World Record for the largest street painting by an individual in 2006 and who served as the US State Department’s cultural ambassador in 2012. The mural — ‘Over the Rainbow’ — creates the illusion of the flyover wall having opened up to reveal children playing on a swing. Adding to the movement in the lines is a rainbow, which slides backwards and forwards.
3D art on NH flyover near Utkal University gate
“The mural depicts Bhubaneswar’s evolution into a child-friendly smart city,” said Tracy, who has also created a 3D mural inside Kalinga Stadium on the theme of hockey in the country. “I chose to work at night because it was cooler, the traffic was lighter and the air was cleaner. Our sites were relatively quiet at night, so we were able to focus on the work at hand. Lighting is important for colour assessment, but we managed well with the headlamps and lights set up for us,” said the artist, who showcased her work at the SuperBowl 49, the biggest sporting event in the US, in 2014.
Art work in progress during night hours
Commuters are also much taken with the massive pangolin at Acharya Vihar Square; they have Anat Ronen to thank. Originally from Israel, Ronen created the 70 feet by 28 feet mural to make it appear as if the endangered animal is stepping off the flyover. His inspiration? The flyover’s pillars already had birds painted on them and it is located near the Regional Museum of Natural History. “So I thought the pangolin theme would be suited to the location, besides sending the message of conservation,” said the artist.
Art on NH flyover near Acharya Vihar Square
Zee Schindler, originally from Brazil, found her inspiration in the colourful trucks that ply on the state’s highways. It shows in her work, which gives the illusion of trucks breaking through a flyover wall onto the road near Nayapalli Big Bazaar. In another 3D creation, she has presented huge light bulbs plugged into the flyover wall but reflecting ecological concerns.
Art on NH flyover near Nayapalli
Residents are wonder-struck at the transformation the quartet have effected in their city. Familiar spaces have become unfamiliar and every corner seems to throw up something new. “The city is getting a makeover ahead of the world cup. The 3D murals on the walls of flyovers and inside the venue are just mesmerizing,” said Susanta Sahoo, a resident.
The artists, too, are pleased with the response to their work. “Many locals have thanked us for helping beautify their city. I also learnt so much from them,” said Tracy, who is on her third visit to the city.