[Please circulate widely]
By
now, you would have read, heard or seen the news of the arrest of a
student, Chandra Mohan, and the suspension of the dean of Maharaja
Sayajirao University's Fine Arts faculty in Baroda, Prof. Shivaji
Panikker. (For those who haven't, please catch up through the press
links below.)
A simultaneous all-India public protest will take place on
14th May, at 6
p.m. The Mumbai protest wil be in front of
Jehangir Art Gallery.
Those attending are requested to wear black and/or white.
For details of other protests, please see
http://fineartsfacultymsu.blogspot.com/
Below these links, please read:
Hindu Sacred Art Offends Self-appointed Custodians of Hindu Culture, By
Ranjit Hoskote, and an
open letter from Gulammohammed Sheikh.
News links:
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070011809
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Suspended_fine_arts_teacher_Panikkar_goes_into_hiding/articleshow/2039041.cms
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/002200705121859.htm
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=2&theme=&usrsess=1&id=156119
http://www.hindu.com/2007/05/11/stories/2007051117101500.htm
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/baroda-art-controversy-intensifies/40455-3.html
http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=370961&sid=REGhttp://www.saharasamay.com/samayhtml/articles.aspx?newsid=75220
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=235916
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=9cb71e3b-4392-4d4b-95bc-f9730065c67e&&Headline=MS+University+dean+suspended+in+Gujarat
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=8f2213c7-4b12-4e48-9b7c-40302cd7a968&&Headline=Vadodara+art+student+lands+in+jail-----------
Hindu Sacred Art Offends Self-appointed Custodians of Hindu Culture
by Ranjit Hoskote
In a grimly ironic turn of events
following the 9 May arrest, without a proper warrant, of Chandramohan,
a final-year fine arts student at
the M S University, Baroda, the self-appointed custodians of Hindu
culture have now demanded the closure of an exhibition showing the
vital role of the erotic in Hindu sacred art.
Earlier
today, 11 May, students of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the M S
University put up an exhibition of reproductions of images drawn from
across 2500 years of Indian art. In a silent protest against the
brutality with which their fellow student has been treated for
exhibiting works that BJP and VHP activists claim are offensive and
obscene, the students put up pictures of the Gudimallam Shiva, perhaps
the earliest known Shiva image, which combines the lingam with an
anthropomorphic form; a Kushan mukha-linga or masked lingam;
Lajja-gouris from Ellora and Orissa, resplendent in their fecund
nakedness; erotic statuary from Modhera, Konark and Khajuraho; as well
as Raga-mala paintings from Rajasthan. All these images, among the
finest produced through the centuries in the subcontinent, celebrate
the sensuous and the passionate dimensions of existence – which, in
the Hindu world-view, are inseparably twinned with the austere and the
contemplative.
This
treasure of Hindu sacred art did not win the favour of the
establishment. The Pro Vice Chancellor issued a verbal request that
the exhibition be closed, which the Dean of the Fine Arts Faculty, Dr
Shivaji Panikkar, ignored. A written order followed, and was similarly
ignored. The Pro Vice Chancellor then arrived at the venue, accompanied
by some members of the Syndicate of the University. They
requested Dr Panikkar to close down the exhibition, then ordered him to
do so. When it became clear that the Dean would not bend to their will,
they had the exhibition locked.
It
appears that the champions of a resurgent Hindu identity are
acutely embarrassed by the presence of the erotic at the centre of
Hindu sacred art. As they may well be, for the roots of Hindutva do not
lie in Hinduism. Rather, they lie in a crude mixture of German
romanticism, Victorian puritanism and Nazi methodology.
What happens next? Will the champions of Hindutva go around
the country destroying temple murals, breaking down monuments, and
burning manuscripts and folios?
-----------
Open Letter from Gulammohammed SheikhDear friends
You
must have known through media reports that Chandra Mohan, a student
from the Department of Graphics at the Fine Arts College in Baroda has
been arrested on 9th of May 2007 for making an allegedly controversial
painting depicting nude figures with some religious motifs. The arrest
followed the storming of the university premises by a group of
outsiders. The work in question was part of a display in the college
premises for assessment by a team of examiners for a Master's degree in
Fine Arts. Charged with sections 153 and 114 as well as sections 295 A
and 295 B, he has been denied bail and is presently in Central Jail,
Baroda.
In a civilized society any dispute on a controversial
depiction or content of a work of art can be dealt with through
dialogue and consultation with experts in the field rather than left to
self-appointed moral police employing coersive means. In the present
case, the outsiders taking law into their hands barged into the
university campus without prior permission, did not consult or inform
the Dean of the Faculty before disrupting the annual examinations in
progress. The reports are that they returned again to abuse the Dean
and threatened him with dire consequences.
Such an instance of assault on a student by outsiders in the
university premises is unprecedented in the history of the Faculty of
Fine Arts and must be condemned in no uncertain terms. The Fine Arts
College known nationally and internationally for upholding the highest
standards of creative and critical practice has also earned reputation
for its firm commitment to the freedom of expression. The former
authorities of the university like Smt. Hansa Mehta, the very first
Vice Chancellor in the fifties up to Prof. Bhikhu Parekh in the
eighties have stood by the Faculty and its ideals. The present assault
seems to strike at the very ideals on which it was built by pioneering
artist-academics and supported by enlightened university authorities.
The present administration of the university has not initiated any
action against the trespassers or applied for bail for the victimized
student. The students and staff of the Fine Arts College have organized
a dharna and the Acting Dean, Prof. Shivaji Panikker has planned to
undertake a hunger strike in the College premises against the assault
on the student and callous attitude of the university authorities.
(Latest report is that the Department of Art History has been sealed
and Prof Panikker has been suspended by the university authorities). A
solidarity demonstration of artists, intellectuals and cultural workers
from all over India is called on 14th of May at the Fine Arts College
premises beginning 2 pm with an appeal to all concerned to gather there
to lend their support. (Contact details below*).
As an alumnus and former teacher of the Faculty of Fine Arts,
I fear these developments may imperil the working of an institution
which in many ways has formed our lives; and is indeed an integral part
of what we are today. I hope all other alumni and teachers as well as
concerned artists and intellectuals of the country will come forward to
protect it in its moment of crisis when the values it stands for are
threatened.
Gulammohammed Sheikh
11th May, 2007
Venue:
Faculty of Fine Arts (or Fine Arts College),
Pushpabug, University Road, Vadodara (Baroda) 390002
Time:
2 p.m. onwards
Contact emails: Shivaji Panikker:
shivji dot panikkar at gmail dot com Deeptha Achar :
deeptha dot achar at gmail dot com-----------