Because of a growth in passenger traffic, the sculptural installation "Curtain Wall" at Terminal 4 in Kennedy International Airport is being removed so that more people can fit into the corridors. Photo: David W. Dunlap/The New York Times
A couple different news stories about airport art came out this week: The above photo is a work of public art by the sculptor Harry Roseman in Terminal 4 at JFK. According to the New York Times, it’s actually 58 works of art; gypsum curtains molded to depict states of calm and turbulence. They were commissioned for two long walkways that bring more than seven million international passengers each year upon their arrival in the United States into a vast customs hall. But due to the increase in passenger volume over the last decade, the physical limitations of the walkways at Terminal 4 require the artwork to be removed, which will expand the walk way by approximately thirteen to fifteen inches.
An artwork belonging to the India Greets theme at the newly inaugurated terminal of Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Photo: Siddhesh Savant
On the other side of the world in Mumbai’s newest airport terminal, the art is coming not going. Via an ambitious Indian public arts program, over 7,000 art objects from 27 states within India and 100 commissioned contemporary art works, will eventually be on display, according to the New York Times.
Photo courtesy GVK Power and Infrastructure
Under the aegis of the award-winning curator Rajeev Sethi, the art program, called “Jaya He” (meaning “Glory to Thee”), is comprised of two distinct sections spread across the terminal’s four levels, spanning a total of two miles.
An art installation by Sharmila Samant created by using bottle caps, in turn a reference to the vehicles of the seven Indian mother goddesses. Photo: Siddhesh Savant
“As you enter, you realize what the hype is all about – a breathtaking contemporary feat of engineering and design, rooted in the Indian aesthetic,” said Alex Kuruvilla, managing director of Conde Nast India. “As three kilometers of the art wall is revealed, past, present and future collide in a riot of visual extravagance – truly capturing the India experience.”
At the inauguration on Friday, Sanjay Reddy, managing director of the joint venture that runs Mumbai’s international airport, said, “We brought the beauty of Indian traditional art into this terminal because frankly, today, how many of you or your children go to museums? How many have seen the rest of our country in its true measure?” Mr. Reddy also noted that while the Louvre Museum in Paris receives 9 million visitors a year, the Jaya He museum at Terminal 2 will get 40 million visitors a year, referring to the passenger capacity of the new terminal.
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