Mouth and foot painting artists will soon have their creative talent reaching out to a larger audience across the country. According to sources, the Indian Railways has invited differently abled artists to showcase their works on heritage coaches operated on the Metre Gauge (MG) and Narrow Gauge (NG) routes, such as the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and the Kalka-Shimla Railway.
Accepting a proposal of the Mouth and Foot Painting Artists Association, the Railway Board has advised the General Managers of all Zonal Railways to try out the canvas oil painting works of the artists in heritage coaches running on the MG/NG routes. The theme of the paintings would be relevant to the routes on which the trains are operated. “The proposal of canvas oil painting by mouth and foot painting artists in coaches is a welcome step towards providing a unique identity to the rolling stock. We are in touch with the foundation to take this initiative forward. They [the artists] can also give their paintings in the vinyl wrapping format, which can be pasted on the coaches, so that the gloss value of the work can be maintained over a period of time,” a senior railway official said.
