A Cold Shoulder for M F Husain at Bharat Bhawan
To celebrate its 25th anniversary as the hub of culture in central India, Bharat Bhawan has planned a six-month celebration, but the person who laid the foundation stone for this prestigious institute no longer finds any welcome at its doors. The BJP government is not inviting the world-renowned painter Maqbool Fida Husian to the silver jubilee festivities.
The reason given is that the artist offended Indians with his nude paintings of Hindu gods and goddesses and as a result Culture Minister (Madhya Pradesh), Shri Laxmikant Sharma, “cannot felicitate him as he has made fun of Indian culture. He should have respected the sentiments of millions.”
Bharat Bhawan, a complex that carters to an array of art forms, comprises a museum for the arts, an art gallery, a workshop for fine arts, a repertory theatre, indoor and outdoor auditoria, rehearsal rooms and libraries of Indian poetry and classical and folk music. For its celebrations, which begin in September this year and culminate in a gala in February 2007, the state’s cultural department has proposed a budget of Rs 25 million. Artists, artisans, theatre personalities and cultural luminaries across the globe feature on the state government’s invite list for this occasion.
Twenty-five years ago, in 1982, MF Husain shared the honours for laying the foundation stone with theatre personality Habib Tanveer. Today Husain’s paintings are still part of the Bhawan’s collection. Tanveer shocked by the government’s decision mentions that much of the credit for Bhawan’s fame lies with MF Husain and is aghast at the statements that the artist has harmed the Hindu religion. He feels it robs the artist and people of the freedom of expression and that the government is anti-art, anti-culture.
Feted on the international circuit, MF Husain is being shown the cold shoulder in his own country. Not a very promising future for art and culture in present times?
To celebrate its 25th anniversary as the hub of culture in central India, Bharat Bhawan has planned a six-month celebration, but the person who laid the foundation stone for this prestigious institute no longer finds any welcome at its doors. The BJP government is not inviting the world-renowned painter Maqbool Fida Husian to the silver jubilee festivities.
The reason given is that the artist offended Indians with his nude paintings of Hindu gods and goddesses and as a result Culture Minister (Madhya Pradesh), Shri Laxmikant Sharma, “cannot felicitate him as he has made fun of Indian culture. He should have respected the sentiments of millions.”
Bharat Bhawan, a complex that carters to an array of art forms, comprises a museum for the arts, an art gallery, a workshop for fine arts, a repertory theatre, indoor and outdoor auditoria, rehearsal rooms and libraries of Indian poetry and classical and folk music. For its celebrations, which begin in September this year and culminate in a gala in February 2007, the state’s cultural department has proposed a budget of Rs 25 million. Artists, artisans, theatre personalities and cultural luminaries across the globe feature on the state government’s invite list for this occasion.
Twenty-five years ago, in 1982, MF Husain shared the honours for laying the foundation stone with theatre personality Habib Tanveer. Today Husain’s paintings are still part of the Bhawan’s collection. Tanveer shocked by the government’s decision mentions that much of the credit for Bhawan’s fame lies with MF Husain and is aghast at the statements that the artist has harmed the Hindu religion. He feels it robs the artist and people of the freedom of expression and that the government is anti-art, anti-culture.
Feted on the international circuit, MF Husain is being shown the cold shoulder in his own country. Not a very promising future for art and culture in present times?