Can't just stomach this art attack!

Artists and rights activists have taken exception to Medical Education minister Ramachandra Gowda's slur on the artists. The minister had said during the inaugural function of National Gallery of Modern Art that art has become a medium for "pseudo intellectuals to insult culture and heritage."

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Bangalore-based artist and sculptor Yusuf Arakkal wondered how can a minister of a state which boasts of a rich heritage be so insensitive to its past.

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"No other Indian state has a rich art and cultural heritage like Karnataka that runs into thousands of years. Those magnificent sites of Hampi and similar heritage sites stand testimony to this. And I am proud of being part of it. If the BJP government feels it can suppress the artists and art, they don't know the history. In Soviet Union and Hitler's Germany efforts were made to stifle art. Hitler asked artists to draw only classical arts. In Soviet Union too, artistic freedom was curtailed. But history teaches us that all such fascists have failed," said Arakkal.

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He said that if the authorities didn't want modern art to thrive, they shouldn't have set up the modern art gallery here in the first place.

According to him, it is the artists' right tou00a0express his creative streak and no one has the right to take offense to that.u00a0He, however, said some peopleu00a0use artu00a0in a vulgar form to gain cheap publicity. "But that doesn't mean the artists can be robbed off his creativity. There is one nude portrayal of Saraswati in a temple in Rajastan. So expression of creativity is part of Indian culture," he said.
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R B Bhaskaran, former chairman of Central Lalitkala Akademi, told MID DAY that it was highly unbecoming of a minister to indulge in such irresponsible talks, and that too in such a function.

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"It is not proper in the first place. He should have kept in mind the fact that artists have the same rights like any other artists, be it a sculptor, singers or film stars. No individual or body can infringe on the rights of the artists," said Bhaskaran, adding that of late the attacks on artists in the country have increased like never before.u00a0

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He feels that the BJP government is trying to curtail artistic freedom. "As long as there is no legislation banning the artists from expressing their creativity, no government can curtail that freedom."

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Art critic Sudhakaran attributed Gowda's comments to the lack of "visual literacy."

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"Those who have not visual literacy have no right to comment on art. And the common people expect those who hold a public office to be sensible. Unfortunately the minister's statement reflects his ignorance about India as well as art," he said.

"What the minister highlighted as Indian tradition has the sculptures of Khajuraho and many such temples. It was not M.F Hussain who discovered the sensuality of human body, though he was forced to leave India for being an artist. And the latest statement on the honourable minister's part is also very sad. We expect those who hold the public office to be more sensible," he further added.

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Saldana, former justice of Karnataka High Court, urged the minister for human rights Suresh Kumar to initiate action against Gowda.

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"The highly condemnable action of the minister in ordering the expulsion of artists who protested his illegal attack on freedom of expression must not go unpunished. I urge the human rights minister to respect the oath he has taken to defend the constitution and initiate appropriate action against Gowda," he said.u00a0u00a0

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