环球英语 — 698：Art for Community
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Welcome to Spotlight, I’m Ryan Geertsma.
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And I’m Mike Proctor. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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Today’s Spotlight is on an unusual art project. It is not a drawing. It is not a sculpture. It is not a photograph. It is... a park! This project shows the difficulties and joys that can happen when a community works together.
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Sreejata Roy is an artist from India. But she does not always use the usual materials like paints or pencils to create this art. Instead, she uses people and places in her art.
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Sreejata is particularly interested in communities. She is interested in how, as a group, communities react to problems, how they are forced to move during war, or how they come together. And she wants her art to represent their struggles and solutions.
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In 2008 Sreejata received money for a new art project. This money was from the Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art, FICA. Many people are not able to go to special places, like museums or galleries, to see art. So, FICA tries to involve people in art. FICA believes that the city of New Delhi lacks enough public art. And they believe people become more invested in a city when they can feel proud of it. They believe public art is one way people can feel proud of their city. Parul Vadehra speaks for the organization. She said:
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“We want to encourage public art projects that connect directly with people. This creates a day-to-day experience with art. When they have art around them, the people who live there begin to feel proud of their neighbourhood. They stop throwing garbage on the ground and start using shared public space again.”
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Sreejata’s park project idea would bring people to public art AND public art to people. That is because Sreejata did not want to just make a piece of art in the park. She wanted to make the park itself the piece of art.
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Sreejata found a park in New Delhi, in the Dakshinpuri neighbourhood. This was not a rich area of the city. Many of these people would not have been able to fix this park on their own. She began her work on the park project in the autumn of 2008. The park was dirty and filled with garbage. An illegal gym building for men was in the park. And at night drug users and people who drink too much alcohol spent time there. Sreejata’s project to change this park was going to be difficult.
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Many people from the community did not want Sreejata to work in their park. The women did not trust her. The men were hostile. Some people thought she was only working to take the park for herself. Other people thought she was working with the police. Sreejata told the Washington Post newspaper:
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“No one understood what an artist was doing there. I was threatened and asked to leave.”
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But Sreejata continued her work anyway. She believed that the park could bring the community together. Sreejata’s first art piece in the park involved banners - large signs. These banners encouraged people to stop throwing their garbage on the ground. Later, she organized a group of children to clean garbage out of the park.
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Sreejata’s work in the park made the park cleaner and safer. She encouraged people to take care of the new public space by keeping it clean and garbage free. She did not become frightened by local thugs, or criminals, when they threatened her. She worked with the local government to make sure things got done.
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Sreejata had many dreams for what the park would be. She wanted the park to be a place where people of all kinds could have fun. But she also wanted the community to be a place filled with local history. She wanted the people to be proud of the park. She wanted the park to encourage a response - action - from that community. And it did!
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Many people supported Sreejata’s dreams. But often, she also found people who opposed her. Sreejata wanted the park to be filled with green plants. However, people in the community demanded sharp, barbed wire to keep unwanted people out of the park. Sreejata wanted the park to be a place where people could come together - no matter who they were.
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But even with these problems, the people of the area have grown to value the park. Sreejata knows community projects are often difficult. She says:
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“It is not an easy project. There is politics everywhere. But that is what it takes to create an artwork that truly belongs to the people.”
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One very successful part of the park project involved a wall in the park. With Sreejata’s support, children from the area painted the wall blue. Then they wrote on the wall. They covered it with small simple pictures, and short sentences. The wall was very special to many of the children.
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In August, 2009, city officials finally destroyed the illegal gym building on the park’s property. Many people believed this was a good thing. However, the destruction of the gym also affected the children’s blue wall. The wall was also destroyed. Tina Negi, one of the children, told the Washington Post newspaper how the wall’s destruction affected the community park. She said:
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“The wall was an invitation to everyone to speak their minds. We wrote about the park, drew pictures of women resting under the banyan tree. We drew pictures of children playing on the play equipment, like the swings and slides. Now we feel empty without the wall.”
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In October, 2009, Sreejata’s part in making the park was done. It was now the community’s park. What will happen to the park in the future? Will other areas or parks follow its example? No one really knows. But Sreejata does know that the park has already created a good result for the local community. It is truly a part of the community now. She says:
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“We are all touching one another’s lives through this space. For me, art is not a beautiful thing created in a room alone. It has to belong to the community. Our city is changing with the continuing building of shopping malls, large film centers, train systems and overpasses. But it is more and more difficult to find communities of people in this fast process of development. This park will let people be seen again.
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