Namma Metro vs. Paris Metropolitan – Franck Barthelemy
The Bangalore metro is the latest addition to city public
transport system. It was inaugurated in 2011. The city was
then focused on utility and a massive amount of money was
spent towards it. A few years later, at the initiative of a few city
artists, Namma Metro opened an art space below the elevated
MG Road station and the artist Surekha was appointed curator
for the space. This new art window is finding its way to reach
the travellers and beyond. So far, the travellers have to make an
effort to visit the space. There is no form of art in the stations, on
the platforms or in the wagons. However, the travellers will see
from time to time advertising posters (of course), which are a
form of ornaments. The public space has become a commercial
space rather than an art space. The travellers are hence tempted
to fall into the traps of the consumer society rather than enhance
and enrich their cultural backgroundsOver a century ago, the Paris Metropolitan was inaugurated. From the beginning, the public
company in charge of building and running it thought the metro will vouch for the city of Paris
and be an ambassador in terms of architecture and aesthetic. The design of each station was
thought through. The decoration carefully made. One name had been and will always been
associated with it: Hector Guimard. The art nouveau architect designed the access gates to the
underground transportation system. The typical wrought iron floral ornamental gates became
the epitome of the Metropolitan. Today, we can still see two of the original access gates at Porte
Dauphine (1902) and Abbesses (1900). The Parisians are obviously not fed up with the style and
a new art nouveau access gate opened in 2000 at Chatelet. There is a clear willingness to preserve
the past without forgetting the present.
In a 2012 New York Habitat article, the Paris Metropolitan was qualified “a living museum
of history, art and design”. The RATP (Metropolitan) Communication Department keeps it alive
and regularly partners with other metro networks to enrich its collection. In 1995, the Lisboa
metro exchanged an Azulero fresco
with a Guimard grill. Cargaleiro’s
work can be seen at the Champs
Elysées – Clémenceau station. In
2001, the city of Paris presented to
the city of Chicago a Guimard arch
and in exchange Chicago offered
Jour et Nuit, a glass art work by Judy
Ledgerwood that the travellers can
see at the Bir-Hakeim station. More
recently, in 2011, La Voie Lactée by
the Montreal based artist Geneviève
Cadieux was set up at the Saint
Augustin station to thank the city of
Paris for lending and then donating
a Guimard access gate to the city
of Montreal. There are many more
examples. This exchange programme
between metro networks and cities
has always been very active. It is
certainly a way to tie cultural links
between cities and to openly help
the travellers in discovering other
cultures. When is Bangalore going
to request Paris to lend a Guimard
access gate?
The Paris Metropolitan also
regularly acquires or commissions
art works. In 2013, the Metropolitan