Bhubaneswar Art Trail: Residents open doors to house works of artists from across the globe

In Old Town, Bhubaneswar -- through a 1.3 km stretch -- residents have opened doors to their compounds, backyards, courtyards and flats to house artworks. In a first of its kind initiative, Utsha Foundation for Contemporary Art, in collaboration with Odisha Tourism, Bhubaneswar Development Authority, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation and Bhubaneswar Smart City have put together an exhibition with the contribution of 24 artists from across the world.

The Bhubaneswar Art Trail which is a public art exhibition featuring contemporary artists from Germany, France, Switzerland-USA, and India.

Some notable artwork at the exhibition include Arnika Ahldag's When Futurity Collapses into Contemporaneity, Sharmila Samant's The Heated Debate, Sayantan Maitra's Duck above, fish below, Markus Baenziger's Traces, Satyabhama Majhi's Temple-City, Smrutikant Rout and Pratap Jena's Sailing in Between and Cecile Beau's The Vaporous Region.

"The idea behind the trail was to use the Old Town as a site where the viewers can undertake an artistic pilgrimage and realise that art is not mere decoration but it can engender emancipatory and inclusive public sphere. The art trail attempts to make an important intervention in the art scene of Odisha and foreground new ways of making, displaying and accessing art and art education," said Premjish Achari, co-curator, Bhubaneswar Art Trail.

Bhubaneswar Art Trail is curated by Jagannath Panda and Premjish Achari.

The organisers are also working towards a second edition extending the trail in Old Town itself.