Just a year out of college,26-year-old Kunal Kalra established design firm Envision with his friends and collegemates. A year down the line,the firm is ready with designs for one of the biggest public art installations in the Capital,at Thyagaraja and Chhatrasal stadiums,ahead of the Commonwealth Games. Their designs were selected over 250 entries received for the two projects. A committee of renowned artists from all fields,including world famous puppeteer Dadi Pudumjee,Harender Singh,Naren Sen Gupta and Delhi College of Arts principal Vijay Mohan,judged the entries. Initially,the government had approached many renowned artists for the project. But the big names came with huge price tags. At the end of the day we also have a responsibility of justifying expenditure of public money. So we did not want to spend too much, said a senior official. So the government wrote to artists and colleges seeking proposals. Both the art installations will be in stainless steel and around a theme of sportsmanship and celebration. The 18-foot high sculpture at Thyagaraja Stadium has seven abstract human forms holding hands in celebration. The one at Chhatrasal Stadium will have three intertwined human forms with open arms. The installation suggests that they are open to new ideas and they welcome the future, said Kunal Kalra,who completed his masters in design from NIFT in 2008. He along with colleague Rizwan Ahmed work from their studio in Janakpuri. I believe it is more difficult to make something simple. It took us nearly six months of hard work to come up with these designs, he said. The government has shortlisted two more designs by Kalras team,but have not decided where they will be put up. One per cent of expenditure on each construction project has to be kept aside for public art. But we are in no hurry to scatter public art all over the Capital before the Game, said a senior Delhi government official.
