Besides corporates, RWAs too can get public art installed, say draft public art guidelines

Corporates, RWAs, local bodies, private developers can all get public art installed in a locality subject to clearances from the local municipality and the Delhi Urban Arts Commission. In fact, one percent of all public and semi-public buildings construction costs should mandatorily be spent on public art, says the final draft of public art guidelines for the Capital.

Under the draft guidelines listed locations where public art can come up include regional, district, neighbourhood parks, junctions, bus stops, flyovers, foot over bridges, entrances to a city, parking stands, local shopping centres, Metro stations, riverfronts, green belt, public toilets, water tanks, communication towers, boundary walls, facades, fences, pavements and even footpaths.

The final draft of public art guidelines would be implemented after notification is issued by the government.

At the second round table discussion held in the Capital on Public Art Policy, Guidelines and Master Plan for Delhi, union minister for housing and urban affairs emphasised on the need to create an environment where people respect and value public art.

Referring to the newly built skywalk at ITO and vandalising of nuts and bolts at Signature Bridge, he said there was a need for a behavioural change with regard to how the public treated public art in a city.

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“When artists have their paintings and sculptures and other forms of art placed in public spaces, there will be a need for all of us to jointly facilitate an environment in which people respect and value the art in public spaces,” he said at the round table.

He also recommended that a national workshop be held to discuss these guidelines so that other cities too could implement them.

Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC) chairman P S N Rao said that DUAC is working on similar guidelines for street design guidelines, vehicular parking guidelines, park design guidelines and guidelines on treatment of urban utilities including spaces under flyovers, elevated roads and buildings.

Highlighting the features of the final draft of public art guidelines, Rao said that once these guidelines are notified, any person who has the intention of doing public art in the city – corporates, RWAs, local bodies, Delhi Metro, DDA, PWD, or even a private developer, can get public art installed after submitting a proposal with the concerned local municipality which would then be sent to DUAC for approval.

The draft guidelines lay down that 1 percent of the budget for construction should be spent on public art. “The provision for 1 percent has existed for a long time. For all public buildings like schools, hospitals, offices, whoever is the owner or developing or redeveloping that property within their plot, the provision in the building byelaws states that at least 1 per cent needs to be spent on public art,” explains Rao.

“We have of late examined proposals for public art for the ONGC building, some embassies etc. Metro does not have to get our clearance, but they have consulted us informally and we have given them suggestions. A large number of projects have come to us and it is only when they incorporate public art within the buildings or plots that we give them approval,” he says.

So far there were no formal guidelines for public art in the public realm. “All parks, flyovers, playgrounds, river, shopping centres, roundabouts these are in the public realm where the property is owned by civic agencies or by the government. Till date there were no guidelines. We are currently addressing that in this policy. Anybody who wants to put public art there – it could be a municipal body, a corporate, even RWAs can install public art,” he says.

The draft guidelines also define what is excluded from public art. These include objects that are mass produced such as playground sculptures or fountains, walls, pools, lighting or functional elements, Maps, colour coding, signs are not public art unless designed by an artist. Artworks related to overtly religious contexts, artworks that are objectionable, violent are also considered to be excluded by DUAC.

In order to ensure a systematic emergence of public art in Delhi, a Public Art Master Plan has also been prepared. It defines the locations where public art can come up in the city.

To ensure that public spaces in the Capital city were developed aesthetically, the ministry of housing and urban affairs had asked DUAC to finalise guidelines for public artwork. The first roundtable was held in January. It should be noted that even though the Unified Building Byelaws 2016 mandated public art in new constructions, there was no formal policy in place.

vandana.ramnani@nw18.com