Indian Railways Enlists Local Artists to Decorate Trains with Madhubani Art

Indian Railways has launched a pilot project to decorate trains with traditional Madhubani (Mithila) art, starting with the Bihar Sampark Kranti Express (train no. 12565/66) connecting Darbhanga to New Delhi. In June 2018, local artists were invited to paint geometric designs on the train surfaces using fingers, twigs, brushes, pens, matches, and natural pigments. RK Jain, director of the Samastipur railway division, called it the first train to receive such a comprehensive makeover featuring traditional art, part of a broader experiment to promote art and culture among non-specialist audiences. The initiative has been widely praised by passengers on social media, who share photos and selfies, dubbing it the 'art train'. Separately, in Washington DC, the Department of Public Works, in collaboration with the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, launched the Designed to Recycle project, commissioning local and international artists to design recycling trucks. Ten trucks were produced in 2010, with another ten set to launch by September 2018.