Freedom Wall: In Bengaluru, a wall art project to commemorate India’s heroes

Adorned with portraits and scenes, the ‘Freedom Wall’ project aims to create awareness about freedom fighters, forgotten heroes, and contemporary legends of India.

Elaborating on the initiative, Dushyant Dubey, the creative director of the project, said, “As a resident of 5th Cross Road, I noticed that the wall leads you on a route towards a school. So I wanted to beautify the wall so that the children could glance at the wall and the illustrations and learn about the history and culture of our country.” The team also comprises Sameer Kulkarni, the project manager, and Satyajit Indramohan, the producer.

To provide more information about the personalities, the team has embedded QR codes into the illustrations so that the visitors can scan them on their mobile phones to read further about these artworks on various websites.

The project was funded and supported by C V Raman Nagar Assembly constituency MLA S Raghu under the Ministry of Culture’s ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ campaign that commemorates 75 years of Indian independence. “The central government is commemorating a lot of heroes because of 75 years of independence, and we wanted to replicate the same through some artwork,” said Dubey.

With almost 58 illustrations, created by artists all around the world, the project aims to give a glimpse into the lives led by these Indian legends. The team also placed special emphasis on the heroes and legends of Karnataka, including state icons Nadaprabhu Kempegowda, Sir C V Raman, Mahakavi Kuvempu, Sir M Visvesvaraya, and Krishnadevaraya in their list.

Also, not just about the freedom fighters, but we also want to provide more information about what’s going on in the actual scene- the history and significance behind that scene”, said the creative director.

To provide more information about the personalities, the team has embedded QR codes into the illustrations so that the visitors can scan them on their mobile phones and read about these artworks on various websites. “The QR codes lead to encyclopaedic websites like Britannica, Wikipedia etc. but eventually we want to make sure that we could provide the information in our own website in all South Indian languages. We also want to provide more information about what is going on in the actual scene – the history and significance behind that scene,” Dubey said.

Eventually, the team also plans to incorporate audio elements to give an overall immersive experience. “People can choose the language of their choice and it will actually start playing sounds from that scene, and then the narrator will start talking about it. We also want to include more information about the artists who have created the works,” Dubey added.

Out of the 58 illustrations from the project, only 40 have been completed due to pending permissions from the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) authorities.

Of the 58 illustrations in the project, only 40 have been completed as permissions from the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) are pending. “The initiative was meant to be purely cultural with a social cause. We don’t intend to make any profit out of it. There is a lot of artwork in Bengaluru, but there is a distinct lack of history when it comes to wall art. So that’s what motivated us to come up with this initiative,” said Dubey, who is also planning artwork around the legends of Kannada cinema.

Ashiq Jose M is an intern with The Indian Express