An art gallery in the open at The Skyview in Hyderabad

Of late, galleries are not the only places one can experience art from close quarters in Hyderabad. The Skyview with its twin towers —The Skyview 10 and The Skyview 20 — on the busy HiTec city road in Madhapur offers an artistic experience that integrates art with the work and leisure space. Currently, under hybrid working norms, 14,000 employees are working in 28 companies. in The Skyview towers.

This 22-floor IT park developed by RMZ Corp and My Home Group spread over approximately 2 million square feet per tower offers an artistic space across offices, common areas and public spaces. At Skyview 20 (referred to as Tower 20), a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), two sculptures in the common areas are visible to all employees. Skyview 10 (or Tower 10), a non-SEZ zone open to visitors, showcases four exhibits and a mural on the city.

Art meets technology

‘A Walk to Remember: Your Art Walk Experience starts here’, says a signage at Tower 10, which gives a peep into the artworks, complete with a route map to their locations. Or simply stand there, and see them all by scanning a QR code.

Contemporary artist Sunil Gawde’s Fly Away, Swim Closer, a painted fibreglass bulb, is a replica of an electric bulb hung from the ceiling at Tower 10, which encourages viewers to choose their personality. It sets you thinking, are you like the insect that gets attracted to the light, blindly following someone and losing your identity or are you like the firefly that has a light within?

Metaphors and more

Art gets a symbolic representation here. For instance, The Endangered Hangul in brass by Veer Munshi, depicting the deer in Kashmir is a metaphor for the impending extinction of several ethnic communities. The work explores the migrants’ inclusivity in urban growth in terms of ecology and culture. ‘The antlers of the deer are growing in the wilderness, waiting for their return to the roots,’ reads an artistic statement.

For Shailaja Siramsetty, a facility manager at CGI Information Systems and Management Consultants, this golden deer is a connection to mythological stories. “With computers dominating our lives, the greenery here and the artworks are a welcome relief. They give us a break from work, a chance to rest our eyes. Even while chatting with colleagues, I steal a glance at the deer and feel relaxed,” she says. Preeti Patnaik, a help desk executive, agrees, “With its golden body and antlers, the deer instils a sense of peace and helps me stay calm and focussed .”

Colony Collapse Disorder is a fabric- thread-steel installation by Vibha Galhotra, that highlights the concretisation of cities and the depletion of natural resources; the monumental pair of wings in marble chips and resin by Thukral and Tagra at Urban Terrace (UT) captures a sense of liberty to let dreams take flight. The wings symbolise a desire for greater freedom, a reminder of experiences yet to be discovered, adds Preeti.

Quite naturally, the wings are a popular selfie spot. Visitors ‘wear these wings’ by stepping between them for a quick click. “I took a couple of selfies and brought my family over a weekend to see the artworks and enjoy the walk to the wings,” says Srinivasa Murthy, senior manager of facility operation, Intercontinental Exchange Inc.

Celebrating Hyderabad

A mural by Rapole Abhijeet Rao, in the first floor of Tower 10, celebrates Hyderabad’s beautiful blend of tradition and modernity with opposite walls contrasting the city’s iconic structures and traditional festivities on one side and the IT hub that Hyderabad has grown to be now. Currently doing his master’s at Shrishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology in Bengaluru, Abhijeet did not want his work to overwhelm viewers with too many visuals. He says, “Since the walls are nine feet high and have a long stretch (20 metres and 15 metres on both sides), I created an abstract, minimalistic version of Hyderabad.”

Tower 20 also houses the sculptures, Homage to Hendrick Van Rheede – Tree of Needs (wood sourced from industrial scrapyard and steel) by Arunkumar HG, and Woodhenge by Gigi Scaria — made of bronze and yellow sandstone — described as a ‘vertical ascent of varied structures balancing on top of each other to form a unified form indicative of a united society’.

As art gets integrated into workplaces, the Skyview has turned into a gallery in the open. Apart from offering an educative experience by acquainting employees with nuances of visual art, this accessibility has brought art directly into their routine and also created many treasured moments for them. Srinivasa sums up the advantage of having artwork in the project . “One might not get so excited at seeing an artwork in a closed environment like a gallery, it is much more enjoyable out in the open.”