Coats Of Bhitarkanika & Wildlife In Colours On City Walls

Bhubaneswar: Mega sport events have brought in the concept of theme-based painting and walls at several locations in the Odisha capital have been splashed with murals under the Street Art and Mural Project (STAMP).

The famous mangrove forests of Bhitarkanika can now be seen on the walls of the Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (IMMT), adjacent to the Regional Museum of Natural History.

Artist Rashmiranjan Jena and his co-artists have drawn crocodiles, birds, red crabs and Olive Ridley turtles on the walls.

Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation have assigned the work, which is to be done along 10 major stretches.

Jena, an alumnus of the oldest art institute of Odisha, Khallikote Art College, has nearly 20 artists in his team. The team comprises professional artists who have taken up projects on their own and students, including postgraduates from leading art colleges across the state.

“We have infused almost all major elements of Bhitarkanika into the wall painting, starting from the eggs of the crocodiles, hatchlings coming out of the eggs, birds of the mangrove paradise and also the famous red crab, which is found along the entire coast of Bay of Bengal and Odisha coast. We have also visualised the interrelationship between various wild animals,” Jena said.

He is planning to do more wall paintings on the IMMT wall after finishing Bhitarkanika. “It is a huge wall and after finishing the concept on mangroves, we want to have paintings on animal instincts, wherein we will draw large animals like tiger, rhinoceros, wild birds and also something on man-animal conflicts,’’ he further said.

Ahead of the Hockey World Cup, walls in the city have also been splashed with the colours of the mega sporting event.