[Reader-list] Absence of Husain at Art Summit

Murali V murali.chalam at gmail.com
Fri Aug 14 22:34:19 IST 2009


Well who is the next hindu godess to be depicted nude by M F Hussain.

Regards,
V Murali

On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 7:01 PM, Inder Salim<indersalim at gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear all
>
> please click to see
>
> http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pllHvmNB5GI/Sn7kVWsGT2I/AAAAAAAAAPE/lF_BbjckUgg/s1600-h/sraswati+with+text1.jpg
>
> image in solidarity with MF Hussain
>
> with love
> inder salim
>
>
> On Wed, Aug 12, 2009 at 2:36 PM, ashok kumari<sahmat8 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> we are submitting a memo to the home minister on Husain not being included
>> in the Art Summit. Please send your endorsement as soon as possible.
>>
>> Minister of Home Affairs
>> Government of India
>> North Block
>> New Delhi
>>
>> Dear Shri Chidambaram,
>>
>> We - artists, gallerists and critics, are approaching you on behalf of the
>> artists community on the long standing issue of attempts by Hindu right-wing
>> groups to effectively impose a ban on exhibiting any work by our greatest
>> living artist, 94 year old MF Husain, through threats of assault and
>> violence. These groups, including the BJP, Bajrang Dal, Sri Ram Sena, the
>> VHP, and the Shiv Sena have led a concerted communal campaign against Husain
>> accusing him of blasphemy since 1996. This campaign has taken a violent form
>> on many occasions and has also led to cases being filed against the artist
>> in courts across India, and has led to Husain's self-imposed exile.
>>
>> In a landmark judgement dismissing three such cases in the Delhi High Court
>> in 2007, Justice Sanjay Kishen Kaul defended the right of freedom of
>> expression under the Constitution of India. The Union Ministry of Culture,
>> during the previous Art Summit held in 2008 had categorically stated “Shri
>> M. F. Husain is one of the most prominent artist of the country and the
>> absence of his works at the India Art Summit will not reflect the true art
>> scenario of India.”
>>
>> We are very disturbed by reports that the upcoming International India Art
>> Summit taking place at Pragati Maidan from August 19-24th has asked
>> participating galleries for the second year running to not display the work
>> of Husain citing fear of attacks. We enclose a report from the Telegraph
>> which quotes them as saying that the Home Ministry has offered no assurance
>> of security.
>>
>> We find it shocking that the work of the most famous artist cannot be shown
>> in the country of his birth, even though he is not a criminal, nor is his
>> work proscribed or banned. The Art Summit is being attended by luminaries
>> from around the world, and it is a sad state of affairs that we, who
>> justifiably pride ourselves as a great democracy, cannot resist threats from
>> these groups who we see as no less than other terrorists who threaten our
>> daily lives.
>>
>> We request a meeting with you to apprise you of the art community's anguish
>> and concern.
>>
>> Yours Sincerely,
>>
>> Vivan Sundaram, Ram Rahman, Parthiv Shah, Shireen Gandhi, Dadiba Pundole,
>> Geetha Mehra, Gayatri Sinha, Arun Vadhera, Renu Modi, Ashish Anand, Devika
>> Daulet Singh, Geeta Kapur, Peter Nagy
>>
>> ________________________________
>> See the Web's breaking stories, chosen by people like you. Check out Yahoo!
>> Buzz.
>
>
>
> --
> _________________________________________
> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
> Critiques & Collaborations
> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header.
> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
> List archive: &lt;https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>


More information about the reader-list mailing list