Patna, an Art Junction in Transit
A transformed Patna Railways Junction! A warmer, welcoming interactive space now receives the passengers, setting them off to their destinations.
Walk for Bihar Festival, 2016
In the first chapter of Walk for Bihar (WfB), we created more than 50,000 sq feet of Public Art installations in Patna and other part of Bihar. The following artists participated in the festival -Abhishek Kumar, Artez, Baiju Kurup, Ruchin Soni, Vonitya Amit, Kunal Singh, Tushar Kamble, Blaise Joseph, Chandrashekhar, Pramod Prakash, Bhawesh Patel and Nilesh Kharade. It was our first step in putting Patna and Bihar on the Art map of the world.
In Transit (Second week of November) by Ruchin SoniWalk for Bihar
Patna Junction before the artwork
Patna railway station is one
of the busiest and the oldest in India. The construction of railway line
through Patna was started in 1855 and was completed in 1862. Currently it serves more than 1,50,000 passengers everyday,
none of these facts evident from the dull façade of the Station building. The
festival curator Abhishek Kumar identified the domes at the Karbighaiya
entrance as a potential canvas for the public art.
Across India, railway stations have been a very important part of its towns and cities. Teeming with people, they are not only junctions of travel but also great platforms for communicating the identity of the city and the ideas of its people.
The untraditional, contemporary artwork on Patna's oldest railway station is a testament to the changes that are in transit in this ancient city.
In Transit (Second week of November) by Ruchin SoniWalk for Bihar
Ruchin Soni is a well known street artist/ Muralist from Dehi, trained at MSU, Baroda. His signature style is to cover humans and their expressions in vibrant colors.
Sistine Chapel?
Artist at work. It was a tough task to draw and paint on a roof surface covering such a large space. Ruchin's idea was to capture emotional world of travelers that populate this space day in and day out.
In Transit (Second week of November) by Ruchin SoniWalk for Bihar
Ruchin has used a comic style and exaggerated expressions to depict the myriad travelers who are in perpetual transit at this historical railways station.
The seamless domes
It was a challenge for the artist, Ruchin Soni to create an artwork that flowed rhythmically through these domes. The artwork was called, The Transit, marking thousand of people arriving and leaving the place for local and far flung locations.
The Three Phases of Life
The paintings on the three domes symbolizes three different aspects of the journey of life: Stage I: The playful infancy and childhood. Stage II: Self-discovering & adventurous adulthood. Stage III: And the benevolent old age.
In Transit (Second week of November) by Ruchin SoniWalk for Bihar
The Artwork seen providing a colorful sky for the travelers.
In Transit (Second week of November) by Ruchin SoniWalk for Bihar
Portraits in close up. The portraits are inspired by actual passengers that the Artist met first hand. There is an amalgamation of expressions and emotions depicted in contemporary style.
In Transit (Second week of November) by Ruchin SoniWalk for Bihar
A video telling the story of creation of the Artwork, In Transit, by Ruchin Soni! The video captures the hullabaloo of the Patna junction and coming of life of the artwork.
Walk for Bihar – Public Art Festival - Chapter 2016
Artist – Ruchin Soni
Cinematographer – Sumit Das
Festival Director & Curator – Abhishek Kumar
Festival Producer – Manish Tiwary
Supported By –
Art Culture & Youth Department, Govt. of Bihar
Eastern Central Railway, Indian Railwaays
SBPDCL, Govt. of Bihar
Bharati Projects
Copious Software
Art Warriors – Shams Alam, Manoj Kumar & Others.
