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Freedom of Expression in Mother India (Part 1): The Work of MF Husain
alli.fish · Tucson/Irvine/Bangalore (India) (United States) · Jun 04th, 2008 4:38 pm · 25 votes · 1 comment
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In early May 2008 the Delhi High Court, through an opinion authored by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, issued a decision in a case involving a nude painting by the renowned artist Maqbool Fidaq Husain (best known as MF Husain). Born in 1915 to a Muslim family in the state of Maharashtra, MF Husain is a highly acclaimed artist who many consider to be the father of modern Indian art and whose work has been compared to that of Pablo Picasso. Husain’s work first began to receive widespread recognition in the late 1940s and, since that time his paintings have been displayed in galleries around the world with individual pieces selling in excess of US$2 million.
Despite his international success Husain’s work has engendered some controversy within his own country. Specifically, public anger over his work was touched off when a series of paintings depicting nude Hindu deities began to circulate within the country. Though Husain created the series in the 1970s the controversy did not erupt until the mid-1990s when a Hindu magazine published images of the paintings. The outcry following the publication of the article and images resulted in a criminal case being filed against Husain in which eight charges of “promoting enmity between groups... by hurting the sentiments of Hindus” were filed against the artist. Though the courts eventually dismissed these charges, Husain is purported to have received death threats and, in 1998 right-wing Hindu nationalists, in an act that was endorsed by the Shiv Sena, attacked his home and destroyed paintings located there.
Most recently Husain has again become the target for similar protests by hard line Hindu groups who have taken offense at a painting popularly known as Bharatmata (or Mother India). The painting, which was not named by Husain, depicts an anguished woman with her body and hair arranged in a manner resembling India’s geographic boundaries. Across the woman’s naked body are written the names of the country’s various states. The painting first came to the attention of right-wing conservative Hindu groups when images of it were displayed in print-based advertisements for the charitable event “Art for Mission Kashmir”, an art auction organised by Nasif Ali of Action India. The image was later also included on the artist’s official website. As a result of these public displays more criminal charges were filed against Husain who, as an elderly man in his 90s, chose voluntary exile in Dubai and London in order to avoid continued state-enabled persecution.
This case against Husain has been decried by many in India as one of the gravest threats of censorship facing the contemporary art community. However, in a step towards disabling this threat the Delhi High Court found in favour of Husain quashing the several criminal complaints that had been filed against him. In doing this, Justice Kaul broadly chose to defer to Husain’s interpretation of his work in Bharatmata as both a commentary upon and celebration of modern India. Furthermore, Justice Kaul’s 70-plus page opinion addressed significant aspects of both print and web-based depictions of nude artistic pieces. The implications of which I intend to address in future posts. Watch this space!
tags: india culture local-context-global-commons art censorship
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