THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: ‘Arteria’, a mega public project to turn the walls and public buildings into one long canvas along the streets of the city, will kick-start on Tuesday.
Tourism Minister A P Anil Kumar will launch the artistic rendering at the gate of University Stadium.
In its first stride, the exterior wall of University Stadium stretching from LMS Junction to Palayam covering around 7,000 sq feet area will be covered and is expected to be complete by Onam.
K Muraleedharan MLA, Mayor K Chandrika, Kerala University Vice-Chancellor P K Radhakrishnan, District Collector Biju Prabhakar, Tourism Secretary G Kamala Vardhan Rao, Tourism Director P I Sheikh Pareeth, B D Dattan, Kattoor Narayana Pillai and Curator Ajith Kumar will be present at the launch.
Led by noted sculptor and painter Kanayi Kunhiraman, the other artists in the first phase include Kattoor Narayana Pillai, B D Dattan, Rimzon, Tensing Joseph and Nemom Pushparaj among others.
The mega project has been conceived as a joint venture of the district administration and Tourism Department, with support from City Corporation, Cultural Affairs Department and Kerala Lalithakala Akademi.
Conceiving the whole city as a vast open canvas in effect would free the public from being continuously exposed to the enormous swirl of mechanically reproduced images, the artists believe.
Arteria is considered to have a great significance with the public also becoming part of a new artistic culture.
Apart from the walls facing the road, the exterior of tall buildings would also be beautified.