TOYOTA KIRLOSKAR MOTORS (TKM)
TKM has a very impressive factory laid out over 500 acres at Bidadi industrial area along the Bangalore – Mysore Highway. Here 25 acres have been set aside as an ECOZONE principally to sensitise employees of TKM and other corporates in Bidadi, their families and children from surrounding schools about environmental and conservation issues. PFC was contracted to execute the Artwork for the site which involved interpretation signage, carving and painting gigantic pillars for a timeline walk, 3D carvings of keystone animal species, 2D carving on boulders depicting endangered plant species and artistically designed mosaic seating. This venture has been very rewarding and it was a pleasure to be appreciated by the top executives and CEOs of Toyota, many of whom had flown down from Japan to attend the opening ceremony of the park.
D.J. Academy, Coimbatore
D.J. Academy in Coimbatore was a barren land. The main focus of the work here was shaping and planting an area of 25 acres and particularly creating water retention landscapes.
Marine Turtle Centre
The Turtle Interpretation Centre at Marakkanam is a project undertaken at the behest of the Department of Forest and Wildlife, Tamil Nadu. The centre has interpretation signage on plywood that combines both text and imagery concerning sea turtles found in India, especially the Olive Ridley Turtle which inhabits coastal waters of the East Coast of India.
Chetpet Eco Park, Chennai
This was a project initiated by the Fisheries Department of Tamil Nadu which PFC facilitated in the beginning. Later during the execution phase the contractor involved PFC to create sculptures of creatures in stone, ferrocement and metal.
Pitchavarm Mangrove Forest
Home to one of India’s largest and most important mangrove ecosystems, Pichavaram in the Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu has long mesmerised visitors with its spectacular maze of narrow waterways and overhanging mangroves.
The art department at Pitchandikulam is delighted to have helped design and create an interpretation centre on the site, on commission from the Tamil Nadu Forest Department.
The project consisted of two parts:
- an interpretation centre, with over a dozen artworks and a permanent exhibition on the biodiversity of the mangrove ecosystem
- a nature trail aimed at schoolchildren and tourists with nine carved stone pillars and seven kadappu stone slabs with oil paintings and information on local birds, marine life and distinctive botanical features such as the Rhizophora species of mangrove trees.
Over a dozen artworks were made for the mangrove interpretation centre, including a beautiful sea turtle who now takes pride of place hanging from the ceiling, and a complex five foot painted sculpture of a rhizophora mangrove tree, complete with roots.
Department of Forests and Wildlife, Puducherry
This involved showcasing the four common venomous snakes of peninsular India (Spectacled Cobra, Indian Krait, Russell’s Viper and Saw-Scaled Viper) and their likeness for the education of the general public. We created life sized sculptures of nine snakes for an outdoor public space, in addition to interpretative signage.
Snake Park, Chennai
This project involved the creation of life sized models of various snakes and lizards.The challenge was to be as taxonomically accurate as possible as the models had to undergo scrutiny by top herpetologists and other wildlife biologists. In addition the models had to depict life styles of the animals that one would not observe unless one spent considerable time observing them in the wild. This was one of Pitchandikulam’s most satisfying projects as it passed muster in both the strict scientific as well as the art fields.
Gass Forest Museum, Coimbatore
This is one of the oldest museums in the country. We were commissioned to refurbish the museum and give it a more aesthetically appealing look without compromising the existing collections in the museum. The work needed quite a bit of ingenuity and involved the creation of life-sized sculptures of large animals, interpretative signage, indoor landscaping, refurbishing of antique furniture and models, and the cleaning and remounting of the hundreds of animal trophies and skins contained in the collection.
The highlight of the exhibition space is a three dimensional diorama, approximately 25m x 3m, of a rocky forest landscape complete with sculptures of a tiger, a family of lion-tailed macaques, an Indian python swallowing a spotted deer, a king cobra, and a ficus tree amongst many other minor items. A stuffed gaur (Indian bison), presented by the Maharaja of Mysore, and a few other fully stuffed specimens were also used to give a realistic feel to the exhibition.
There’s a good article from the Hindu on the reopening of the museum here.
Toll plazas along the ECR from Chennai to Puducherry
Eye catching paintings of local wildlife on Kadappa stone were erected at both tollgates between Chennai and Puducherry, along the East Coast Road (ECR).
Maintenance update: A few of the paintings have faded noticeably since they have no shade and have not been touched up since they were commissioned nine years ago.
Customers and fans of outdoor art please note: if artworks are left out in direct sunlight, the colours will fade, so repainting maintenance should ideally be undertaken every three years or so. Therefore, it is most economical not to place the art in direct sunlight without any kind of shade.
Butterfly Garden at WIPRO, Electronic City, Bangalore
It was a pleasure to collaborate with ATREE on this project: the Art Department enhanced the landscape features of the butterfly garden with confluent paintings on large granite slabs and stone sculptures, and our Butterly Expert provided background information about the life cycle of Indian butterflies.
