Artist turns Bangalore street into alligator alley: 10 most creative ‘pothole protests’

Baadal Nanjundaswamy, Bangalore based artist-cum-activist, has  done it once again – art bombed the streets of Bangalore to express his frustration over the apathy of the civic authorities.

A 12-feet-long pot hole on the Sulthanpalya Main Road in north Bangalore was posing a hazard for motorists. And, with the onset of monsoons, it got filled with muddy rainwater and the artist turned in into an artificial crocodile pond, with a life-sized fiber-made crocodile!

This is however not the first time. He had earlier painted  an open drain in Kanakanagar main road, near railway crossing, RT Nagar and also the concrete blocks of a lane divider in a busy street which were lying in a haphazard manner. Both these art bombs had led to action – the manhole was closed and the divider back in place!

Whichever Indian city you might be living in, you definitely often travel over potholed roads. And with the rains, brace yourself to maneuver your way through worse.

If you’re one of those people who want to do something about the bad roads and possibly ignorant city administrations and local leaders, here’s how some innovative people made their voice count:

In Nagaland, protesters planted rice saplings and mimed fishing scenes along the potholes to demonstrate against the government’s failure to maintain roads.

In South Africa, a British teacher took pictures of herself staging a bath in a giant pothole. The pictures went viral after she posted them on social networking sites.

To get their voice heard, activists in Ukraine planted tulips in potholes!

Similar protests resonated in a village in Bali, Indonesia. However, this time it was not a flowering plant, but a whole banana plant. Yes, and right in the middle of the road too, demanding action on unfinished road construction.

In Yekaterinburg in Russia, a local media site decided to remind politicians about their duty to repair roads. Since they cared less about the roads and more about their public image, the media site teamed up with an artist and drew caricatures of the politicians. This became a viral sensation and even got some action on the ground, er… the roads.

By outlining the pothole with a big penis and signing it ‘Wanksy’, this British protester made sure that the potholes were filled really soon! 

In Scranton, USA, an art company decided to give potholes an image makeover, something cheery and fun. They started filling them with ice and beer, and soon it became a campaign. People began to participate in the ‘positively fill negative space’ contest and showcased how pot holes are not so bad after all. Irony wins, doesn’t it?

Artist Santacruz Herrera decided to add some colour to the protest against the potholes in Paris though ‘Project Pothole’. She filled the cracks with installations of colourful yarn. A passive protest that definitely caught attention.

In Saskatoon, Canada, citizens  protested against potholes by celebrating Saskatoon’s lovely pothole season – fishing, playing the guitar and getting creative.

So it looks like we Indians are not the only ones tired of governmental apathy towards the bad condition of our roads. As you can see, how you can get the authorities to take action is limited only by your verve and creativity. Put on your thinking caps and get on those roads!

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