Bengaluru:
Walk past PESIT college on Mysore Road and you will see an impressive mural adorning the wall. You will also see an illustrious bunch of teenagers, working dedicatedly on the wall, guided by a woman with a powerful voice. That is Arzu Mistry, who, along with her class, is commemorating 25 years of PESIT in a unique manner. Titled ‘Wall meets Paint’, the 7,500 square foot mural has 21 students working on it daily, to commemorate the silver jubilee of one of Bengaluru’s prestigious educational institutions.
The mural primarily uses paint along with metal and found materials to capture the essence of PESIT. From the left side of the mural, moving towards the right, the design commemorates student life through shades of blue, from the time they enter the college to graduation and beyond. From right to left, the mural moves from cool to warm colours tracking the history of the college and marking points in the journey of the college. Dragonflies are a dominant feature of the mural representing metamorphosis and movement.
Arzu Mistry believes in integrating art and education, much like her mural. Born in Mumbai, brought up in the Bengaluru, Arzu moved to the States to pursue her studies. She studied at the California College of The Arts, and then did a Masters at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. “My parents lived in Iran when I was a child. They are architects and always wanted to pursue art and design.”
Never the one to go by conventional methods of education, an experience in USA changed everything. “I remember when the Iraq War was declared in 2008, many of my students faced the crisis personally. The neighbourhood near the school had a high immigrant population. Several fathers, uncles, brothers of these children were being sent to war and we didn’t have a way to help them deal with it.” Now, Arzu goes to the US every year and teaches children. Math and science usually give children nightmares but when combined with interesting forms of theatre, dance, visual art and mixed media, it can be a lot of fun! “Art needn’t be abstract at all, in fact, can be used to teach various disciplines because art appeals to one’s mind like nothing else.”
Her latest pet project is another way to integrate the city and its various elements into art, and not make creativity an exclusive item. “It’s amazing how receptive people are. One day, a man on a motorcycle got off and asked me if he can paint with us. He actually painted a portion of the wall and took off. We have a coconut-vendor who gives my students free coconut water everyday. A chaiwalla stops by to give us chai every evening. The local policeman makes sure the area is cleared for us and mans the traffic especially for us. There is a distinct manner in which art communicates beyond boundaries.”
source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> Lifestyle> Books/Art / DC, by Shindhuja Balaji / December 07th, 2012