Masumul Islam, Chittagong
The shuttle trains, running between Chottogram city and the University of Chottogram (CU) have been decorated with colourful graffiti paintings to give an attractive look.
A German couple performed the voluntary job of exhibiting the images of traditional Royal Bengal tigers, mountains and the sea on the shuttle compartments.
Besides, the shuttle train, the main transportation vehicle of the students of CU, is also being painted with abstract aesthetic images.
The couple, Lucas Zillinger and his wife Livia Zillinger offered to the CU authorities last week to perform the abstract work on the trains. They started painting graffiti on the shuttle trains last Thursday.
A pair of shuttle trains plying on the university route seven times a day from the campus to the Chittagong railway station.
Due to the short stay at both ends, the paintings had to be done on the campus at times, at times in an intermediate station, and sometimes at Chittagong station at night. The work never stopped even if there was any bad weather.
Artist Lucas Zillinger said that the work of painting the trains is almost finished. The graffiti is scheduled to be finished on Wednesday.
"The shuttle train was chosen because it's like a moving canvas. People go to different art galleries to see works of art. But the moving vehicle exposes the images more easily. These graffiti, done in natural colours, will cheer up the minds of the visitors walking along the university students,” Zillinger said.
"My graffiti is drawn by combining abstract concepts with various traditions of Bangladesh," he said.
Artist Livia Zillinger said, "The idea of painting graffiti on vehicles came to us in the early seventies when young people in the United States painted graffiti on the subway in New York. Their graffiti was seen by the people of the whole city. We basically chose vehicles to draw graffiti from there."
“Our expectation is that the artwork we make should not offend anyone," she said.
Arup Barua, a teacher in the theatre department of the university, has been helping the German artist couple to paint the graffiti from the beginning. He said that the work of painting the graffiti is entirely financed by Lucas and Livia. Some students of the university are assisting them in this work.
Teachers and students are happy to make the main transport to the university colourful with graffiti. Many students are found excited about taking pictures in front of the graffiti every day.
Mohammad Ramiz, a Master's student at the University's Department of Forestry, said that the graffiti of the two German artists are very good. “Their graffiti made our colourful shuttle even more colourful. I heard that around 2009, the shuttle was photographed in various films. We hope that everyone will be aware in order not to destroy the graffiti this year.”
Bristi, a student of the Sanskrit Department, said that before boarding the train, seeing the colourful shuttle made us feel better.
Students already have an emotional connection with the university shuttle. The graffiti added to that sentiment.
Acting Registrar of Chittagong University Professor SM Monirul Hasan said that on March 28, artist Lucas proposed to us to decorate the train compartments. The shuttle train has had artwork before. But we are intrigued by the novelty of Lucas' proposal.
