In Kolkata, heritage enthusiasts pay tribute to Satyajit Ray through street art

On the occasion of the 104th birth anniversary of acclaimed filmmaker Satyajit Ray, a 120-foot stretch of wall outside his residence on Bishop Lefroy Road in Kolkata has been turned into a crowdfunded street art museum dedicated to his life and work.

The wall, adjacent to the home where Ray’s son, filmmaker Sandip Ray, now lives, showcases high-resolution prints of sketches, photographs, paintings, film posters, and magazine covers – both by and of Ray. The facade is illuminated in the evenings, allowing passersby to view the open-air exhibition after dark.

“I grew up behind his house on Lake Temple Road and Lake Avenue. I believe Calcutta is a repository of nostalgia, but somewhere the city stopped telling stories. Through this street art museum, we have tried to tell a visual story of Mr. Ray as a professional,” Mudar Patherya, a Kolkata-based urban revivalist who conceptualised and executed the project, said.

He noted that the inspiration came from a similar visual transformation undertaken in his own office space. “Mr. Ray was not just a filmmaker. He was a multidimensional man – he was an artist, a writer, and he composed the music for his own films. He was many things at once. The street exhibition is thus an attempt to enhance the common people’s understanding of Mr. Ray,” Mr. Patherya added.

The exhibition, completed by April 30, was installed over ten days and includes murals painted on electricity boxes and backlit posters mounted on lamp posts. The project was supported by approximately 27 patrons, most of them based in Kolkata.

“A lot of the credit behind this goes to Sandip Ray, who vetted the images that have been put up, and Ashim Basu, the councillor who facilitated this project. It was a collaborative effort to transform and reinvent the neighbourhood. Now with the help of Mr. Basu, we are also painting alpona on the lamp posts in the area,” Mr. Patherya said.

He also expressed the hope that this model of urban rejuvenation could be adopted in other parts of the country, particularly in neighbourhoods associated with distinguished individuals.

Ashim Basu, a member of the mayor-in-council of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and councillor of Ward 70, where the project is located, said that the effort is part of a broader heritage initiative. “All buildings in the area can be considered heritage property, and there has been a concerted effort to highlight that,” Mr. Basu said.

“Once, around four years back, we had tried something similar where we printed Mr. Ray’s sketches on flexes and put them up on kiosks. So when I got the proposal for this urban revival project, I was ready. We overcame many hurdles, but our effort was successful. Many people are coming to Bishop Lefroy Road to see this exhibition, and we have plans of expanding it,” he told The Hindu.

Both Mr. Patherya and Mr. Basu confirmed that further initiatives are under way. These include a continuous screening of film clips from Ray’s oeuvre on an electronic display outside his residence and the establishment of a bookshop in the area featuring the works of Satyajit Ray and his father, Sukumar Ray.

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