Bhubaneswar: Artists and people from diverse backgrounds came together in a unique collaboration to create art installations on the state capital.

The exhibition, "0674-Hello Bhubaneswar" after the city's STD code, is being held at Lalit Kala Akademi here.

Artist Veejayant Dash, the exhibition's curator, said about the idea: "It was around six months ago when I felt that the historic state capital has evolved rapidly in the past few decades. It is gradually becoming multicultural and I wanted to gauge whether its identity was intact or if it was losing its charm."

He approached people from different fields, including architecture, archaeology, filmmaking, journalism, social advocacy, and literature to collaborate with artists and portray their vision of the city through art. "The participants researched a lot during the process," added Dash.

Social activist Sruti Mohapatra collaborated with artist Smruti Tripathy to create portraits of her childhood memories of going to school in a rickshaw with her sister.

"I still remember the rickshaw puller who took me to school. It used be a beautiful ride. So, it is one of those memories of Bhubanewar that I still cherish," she said.

Filmmaker Kapilash Bhuiyan, along with an art student and a video editor, came up with a seven-minute video installation that narrates the city's transformation from the Kalinga War to the temple architecture that started in the 6th century to how it grew to its pinnacle in the 12th century when the Lingaraj Temple was built, finally culminating into a Smart City.

Also on display are photographs on the city's diversity, prints and paintings about Sisupalgarh and the city's water quality and sculptures depicting residents' emotions.