This Washington Post article on a woman and her struggles in turning a sketchy New Delhi park into a community art area reminds me of Rex and NOLA Rising.
A year ago, contemporary artist Sreejata Roy had a dream: revive a dirty and desolate park deep in a working-class neighborhood in this evolving city. She did not want to create art within the trash-filled heaps, but to make the park itself into a work of art.
… But collaborative public art means Roy often has to agree to ideas she does not believe in. She wants greenery, but residents want barbed wire to keep out strangers. She wants people to mingle and come together in the park. But the women want to have a fenced, segregated section in the park. “We want a space where we feel safe, away from the men. A women’s corner,” said Chandan Kaur, 50, who sells candies on a pushcart.
And Roy’s work just got messier last month. The city broke down the illegal gym but, in the process, tore down the park’s blue wall as well. “The wall was an invitation to everyone to speak their minds,” said Tina Negi, 13. “We wrote about the park, drew scenes of women resting under the banyan tree, children playing on swings and sliders. Now we feel empty without the wall.”
“It is not an easy project. There is politics everywhere,” said Roy, whose work ends in October. “But that is what it takes to create an artwork that truly belongs to the people.”
Read more about Ms. Roy’s quest at her blog The Park.
