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Mumbai: A few days after the well-known actor Amol Palekar publicly took a stand against the Ministry of Culture for demolishing the Local Artists Committee in the center of the gallery in Mumbai and Bangalore, the Ministry issued a clarification claiming that the advisory committee not been dissolved.
This clarification comes three days after the interruption of Palekar's speech on February 8, during a demonstration at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA).
In its statement, the Ministry stated that "the NGMA Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi Advisory Committees have not been dissolved. Their mandate has ended recently (the terms of reference for the Mumbai and Bengaluru committees ended on November 15, 2018 and Delhi on January 17, 2019). The committees are being reconstituted. "
But stating clearly that the controversy sparked by Palekar's comments had prompted rethinking, the department said that the recommendations of previous advisory committees would be" honored "and" the artists' exhibitions will take place as proposed ". The new advisory committee will make a decision regarding future exhibitions, the ministry added.
On February 8, at the inaugural ceremony of the exhibition titled "Inside the Empty Box", organized in memory of the famous artist Prabhakar Barwe, In his prepared remarks, Palekar had spoken of the "loss of 39 "independence" in the way of operation of the art gallery. He had repeatedly criticized the dissolution of the committee, which had made decisions about the day-to-day running of the gallery and selected works that could be exhibited.
But since the Ministry of Culture had dissolved the committee, he had decided the control of the gallery's activities, said Palekar, "many of you may not be aware that this retrospective (l & # 39; 39; exhibition) will be the last show decided by the Local Artists Advisory Committee and not by a bureaucrat or a government agent a program of maintaining the moral order or proliferation of certain arts corresponding to a slant ideological. On November 13, 2018, I learned that the artist advisory committees of the two regional centers, Mumbai and Bangalore, have been abolished.
This is what the department said. Addressing ANI the general director of the gallery, Adwaita Gadanayak, claimed that the advisory board of NGMA Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru had not been dissolved. "Their mandates have ended recently. The committees are being reconstituted, "said Gadanayak to ANI
No explanation was provided on the mismatch between the" end "of the previous committee's mandate and its
Palekar had also mentioned other artists' concerns about reducing the space available in the gallery for the presentation of their works.N NGMA had previously decided to only create part of his gallery In addition, mbadive, so that the artists can exhibit their works.The NGMA has now declared that it "deliberates on the suggestions received from artists and that a final decision would be taken soon in consultation with all Stakeholders. "
On February 8, Palekar having been interrupted several times after his speech, he had confronted the organizers and declared that they" applied censorship "on his freedom of expression. He had also referred to the recent incident where writer Nayantara Sahgal was invited to speak at the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, a literary meeting in Yavatmal, but her invitation was withdrawn at the last minute.
In her speech, Palekar said, "Nayantara Sehgal was recently invited to speak at an event. His invitation was withdrawn at the last minute, his speech being slightly critical of the current situation we are living. trying to create a similar situation by preventing me from speaking here? If you do not want me to speak, I will not speak.
In response to the ministry's clarification, Sandhya Gokhale, wife of Palekar, told [Wire] that their defense was upheld. "He (Palekar) was raising a relevant question, and the statement issued by the department only makes it clear that they are preparing something and are now held accountable. As long as the gallery is kept out of political and bureaucratic intrusions and will be able to function normally, we are delighted, "said Gokhale.
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