Street art campaign lends colour to Kolkata

West Bengal Transport Corporation’s depot walls to celebrate city’s diversity

The Transport Department and art may not always travel hand in hand, but in Kolkata they have come together to lend some colour to roads in the heart of the city. This Independence Day, the West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC) began an art campaign, ‘Colours of Kolkata’, to celebrate what it called the diversity of Kolkata. “Street art is common in America, Australia and Europe. A small attempt is being made to add some colour to the city of joy. This year marks 100 years of Satyajit Ray and 160 years of Rabindranath Tagore. To begin with, the street art has begun with these two stalwarts. The location is Park Circus, on the wall of a WBTC tram depot,” said WBTC Managing Director Rajanvir Singh Kapur. “The whole idea is to add some colour to our mundane streets. The art, celebrating Kolkata and her famous people, will be done on WBTC depot walls, mostly located in the heart of the city in prime locations. A lot of times, people spit and deface our depot walls. It looks bad. This would add an artsy touch to the art capital of India and also maybe discourage people from spoiling the walls,” Mr. Kapur, who has initiated a string of people-friendly measures ever since he took charge in January 2020, said.