CapucinesBoulevard Blog: Indian artists are under attack from moral police

Indian media is currnetly widely discussing the events that shook the art world last May. 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.

Moral censorship related to creative expression is not something new in India. It dates back to the early 1950s, when Akbar Padamsee’s painting of a naked couple was confiscated by the police from an exhibition in Bombay on charges of obscenity. A court ruling however later declared that since the work was within the premises of an art gallery, it could not be deemed obscene.

It is really ironic that in the Hindu religious tradition, explicit pictures and sculptures (just have a look at all major hindu temples) occupy a central space, reference to nudity can so easily hurt sentiments.

Now the question arise how an artist can freely express himself and exhibit his works of art. Here again Internet plays a vital role - it can be a safe spae to exhibit one's creations bearing in mind the fact that the self-appointed moral police in India usually consists of representatives of lower (=less educated) classes.

Currently Capucines Boulevard http://www.capucinesboulevard.com/ on-line art gallery showcases the works of a half a dozen Indian artists who art not in any way discriminated and can use this safe haven to share there works of art with the rest of the world.