‘Our city could also become an art and culture capital', says V Ravichandar

Time of India

24-04-2025

An evident lack of public spaces and infrastructure that Bengaluru's art and culture scene requires has prevented the Garden city from including another much-deserved adage — that of being the capital of art and culture. But, we may not be too far from that, either. The recently restored 160-year-old school building in the heart of Bengaluru that has been transformed into an art hub called
Sabha Blr
is proof of that.
The man behind this initiative,
V Ravichandar
, whose social media handles describe him as the 'self-appointed' Mayor of Public Spaces, has also been instrumental in bringing the Bangalore International Centre to the city, and has been part of the organising team of the much celebrated annual
Bengaluru Habba
, held for over a month in the city's public spaces. We speak to Ravichandran to understand his ideas behind these initiatives.
'Everyone knows Bengaluru as the tech capital of India, but it should also be known for its arts and culture,' he states. 'In the recent past, there have been instances where international artistes have refused to perform in the city due to a lack of infrastructure. Bengaluru should not be a city with such issues. We need five times more public spaces than we now have. Public spaces and community centres bring like-minded people together. It is also a space for people who are not from Bengaluru. They can get to know more about the city, and make new friends with like-minded people,' he added.
by Taboola
by Taboola
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Restoring an old building is expensive. If the same space was built on an empty piece of land, the total cost would have been reduced by 40 per cent. But, there is a value of restoring a 160-year-old space like Sabha, which can't be measured by cost
V Ravichandar
About his recent restoration, Sabha Blr, Ravichandar says, 'My motivation was to create another public space in the city. But I had three things in my mind. One was to create a public space in the city for arts, crafts and culture. The second was to protect heritage structures when a lot of heritage buildings are coming down and modern buildings are taking over. And the third was to set an example and inspire others to recreate more such spaces and make more space for art and culture,' he explains.
'Govt should become an enabler for private art-related initiatives' Yes, there is government support and initiative when it comes to creating more such public spaces. However, in my opinion, while our government can do a lot more, they are constrained in some ways. I feel the government needs to increasingly become an enabler by encouraging the private firms to do work on more such developments. For example, the land belongs to the government, but it can invite a private company to restore, renovate and run these spaces as centres for arts and culture.
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