Street culture turns vibrant

Church Street First gives pride of place to pedestrians and artists. And that is changing how Bengaluru looks at its streets and public spaces

With the dedication of Church Street to pedestrians three months ago, street culture in the city has witnessed a major shift. Young people are selling their art, musicians are showcasing their talent and people are even offering up their time to listen to strangers talk about their problems. Church Street First has become a model for pedestrianisation. Behind the project is the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT).

“We never expected the kind of response that we received. It was very organic and it took on a life of its own,” says V Manjula, commissioner of DULT.

Susheel Nair, single point of contact for Church Street First, curates the cultural events. He had been trying to get such an initiative started for almost three years. “The idea was simple. We wanted it to be a space to bring the community together. We didn’t want it to turn into a big mela or sante,” he says.

That is the reason he stayed away from big names and established artists, and there were no sponsorships or big brands. “It had to be a space for young and upcoming talent that didn’t have a platform prior to this,” he says.

Participants agree. Vocalist Susheel Kumar says the opportunity to perform in front of an audience is a dream come true for amateur musicians like him. “I was here on the first weekend when there was an open mic event. A bunch of us participating got along well and now we come together to Church Street to perform every week,” he says.

Krystal walks along the street with a guitar and stops at random spots for short performances. “People are very open to the idea, despite such a scene not existing before this,” he says.

Synkin, a student band, ventured into busking for the first time on Church Street. “It’s very different from a concert. There you know that people are there to see you so you know they pay attention. Here you are capturing the attention of people, so when they do stop, the vibe is completely different. It’s more engaging and fun,” says drummer Larwin Jonathan.

People even stop and give them money to thank them for the entertainment. “A lot more people than expected contribute monetarily considering how new this concept is,’ he observes.

“There’s music for everyone here, from rap to melodies and songs in all languages. Everything is encouraged and appreciated,” says Susheel.

Ashutosh Ananth, founder of sustainable stationery brand Bunpai, had a stall set up last week. “I’ve actually been busking for the past three weeks and noticed the receptiveness of the audience to new ideas and businesses. A friend had also put up a stall to positive responses so I decided to do it as well,” he says.

He believes the initiative has brought character to the city: “So many people with so much to show are sharing their talents with the city.”

Ashutosh hopes such initiatives pop up across the city. “In fact my father came to visit and he has been itching to talk to the authorities about setting up something like this in our neighbourhood of Jayanagar,’ he says.

“Church Street First has not created a need but rather fulfilled an existing one, which is why I believe it’s become such a success. Even people who were reluctant at first have told us that we should continue with it,” Manjula adds.

Curator Susheel too hopes this will open up more such initiatives. “I think art is a powerful tool to activate public places but before this, it was just a hypothetical idea,” he says.

Need for designated spaces

Artists and curators underline the need for designated spaces for busking to work across locations in Bengaluru. “Even here it’s difficult to haul our equipment to these places. We were only able to connect to a power source because the organisers helped us with it,” says a musician.

The way forward

The street was scheduled to open back up to vehicles by February 28 but the success of the cultural initiative has pushed the deadline. “The MLA has asked us to continue till the end of March.

Unfortunately DULT cannot be responsible for its long-term existence so we’re hoping to have a meeting mid-March to discuss how the project will move forward,” says Manjula, commissioner of DULT. She adds that the government is looking at more streets city for their feasibility to pedestrianisation.

“Places like Gandhi Bazaar, Avenue Road, and Malleswaram 8th Cross are being studied. We’re also hoping communities come forward with such ideas for streets in their localities,” she says.