Drawing attention, aesthetically!

Adding aesthetics to city walls, artists are working on creating wall paintings and murals at public spaces as part of preparations with Amritsar getting ready to host the G-20 meet next month. Lensman Vishal Kumar and Staff Correspondent Neha Saini do a recce.

Painting the walls with colours and creativity, teams of several artists, most of them students, have been working for the last three days to give Amritsar an aesthetic makeover. The district administration announced a wall painting competition keeping in view the upcoming G-20 Summit, to provide an opportunity to the artists to display their art and give the otherwise dull walls in the city a creative makeover.

Deputy Commissioner Harpreet Singh Sudan announced that the winner of the competition will be awarded a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh (in professional category) and Rs 10,000 in the students’ category.

These artists have been assigned walls at different areas in the city including SR Rani Government College, Rambagh, roads leading to the airport and educational institutions. Artists including students and professionals from across Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana and across Punjab are taking part. The participants in the competition have been given 50 to 150 square feet area to paint and all the materials used for painting have been provided by the district administration. The artists will be given time till February 27 to complete their murals and painting on themes like abstract art, heritage and culture of Punjab, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, martyrs or famous personalities of the city, education, Kirat, promotion of Punjabi language, social issues and sustainability.

These artists have been working simultaneously, throughout the day, inviting appreciation from bystanders and commuters.