[ad_1]
Mumbai: The crisis of freedom of expression in India hit the art world on Friday. Amol Palekar – the renowned actor, director and producer of Hindi and Marathi cinema – has been interrupted several times and has been asked to interrupt his speech before a national gallery of modern art event ( NGMA) on February 8th.
Palekar, also a professional painter, spoke at the inaugural ceremony of the exhibition entitled "Inside the Empty Box", organized in memory of the famous artist Prabhakar Barwe. In his prepared remarks, he spoke of the "loss of independence" in the way the gallery works.
The NGMA, which until last October, had an "advisory committee of local artists" to decide on various exposures to Palekar said that this arbitrary decision had been made by the Ministry of Culture, said Palekar.
The arbitrary decision was made by the department and the local artists committee. the three-year period is now dissolved.
Until October, the committee was responsible for selecting the various exhibitions held for several decades at the art gallery.
The dissolution of the committee would mean that the exhibitions and other decisions taken at the gallery would be solely at the discretion of the Ministry of Culture, the fellowship of artists losing its right to decide the daily operation of the gallery.
On Friday night, Palekar began his speech in memory of his old friend Barwe, who said he was concerned about the recent decision to dissolve the committee.
"Many of you may not be aware that this retrospective (the exhibition) will be the last exhibition decided. by the advisory committee of local artists and not by a bureaucrat or a government agent with a program of maintaining the moral order or proliferation of certain arts corresponding to an ideological inclination. I learned that, as of November 13, 2018, the advisory committees of artists meeting in the two regional centers, namely Mumbai and Bangalore, have been removed, "he said at
The text prepared, it was stopped by the curator of the show, the renowned artist and former chairman of the advisory committee Suhas Bahulikar and the current director of NGMA, Anita Rupavataram. to stick to "Barwe's work." To which Palekar replied: "Are you trying to prevent me from speaking and applying censorship on my speech?"
"Recently, Nayantara Sehgal was invited to speak at an event and her invitation was withdrawn at the last minute because her speech was slightly critical of the current situation we are living in. Do you try to create a similar situation by preventing If you do not want me to speak, I will not speak, "he added.
Rupavataram and his predecessor, Suhas Bahulkar, continued to oppose Palekar while he was attempting to complete his written speech. Exhibition curator Jesal Thacker was then invited to speak and Palekar reluctantly agreed to summarize his speech.
But when Palekar was interrupted again, he mockingly added, "You say you will not censor. You say you're just asking … Do not talk, do not talk like that. Do not eat that, do not eat that, "said the audience with applause.
The interruption persisted while Palekar spoke and while respecting the curator's wish, he was finally to abbreviate his speech. before he made himself understood
"Why are these unilateral decisions taken, what is the real intention behind such restrictions?" Is not this another level of censorship on the artistic freedom? Is not this yet another badault on the federal structure of this plural nation? The policy of broadcast and abortion of eclectic voices and artistic expression has muzzled another institution! This control on the NGMA, which is the sacred place of artistic expression and visualization of various arts, is the most recent victim of this "war against the humanities", as recently stated somebody! am really troubled … o where is it going to stop? ", he adds.
Speaking of his experience at the event, Palekar told The Wire that he was not expecting such a response from the organizers. "It was rather surprising how they reacted. The recent development at the gallery has been a big concern. I thought what better platform than the gallery itself to talk about the issue. "
While the organizers were clearly upset by Palekar's decision to critically review the recent development, the audience, composed of renowned artists and art students, applauded comments and expressed solidarity Dolly Thakore, a former theater artist, who was present at the event, said: "It was encouraging to see Amol (Palekar) speak up and raise a problem too. The extent to which the state is attempting to intervene in all areas of art and culture is astounding – the conversation was to begin somewhere. "
While Palekar concluded his Speech, Rupavataram, recording his dissatisfaction, said: "This is only one aspect of the story.It is not as if we have not already expressed our concerns It would have been nice if you had personally discussed this. e question with us and you have not talked about it here on the public platform. Palekar replied that what she was proposing was to submit to precensorship,
. You can read the full text. remarks prepared by Amol Palekar here.
Source link
