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print versionSAHMAT
Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust
29 Ferozeshah Road, New Delhi 110 001
Tel.: 23381276 / 23070787
e-mail: sahmat8[at]yahoo.com
27 October 2015
Artists Alert: 2015
The artist community of India stands in firm solidarity with the actions of our writers who have relinquished awards and positions, and spoken up in protest against the alarming rise of intolerance in the country. We condemn and mourn the murders of M.M. Kalburgi, Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare, rationalists and free thinkers whose voices have been silenced by rightwing dogmatists but whose ‘presence’ must ignite our resistance to the conditions of hate being generated around us.
We will never forget the battle we fought for our pre-eminent artist M.F. Husain who was hounded out of the country and died in exile. We remember the rightwing invasion and dismantling of freedoms in one of the country’s best known art schools in Baroda. We witness the present government’s appointment of grossly unqualified persons to the FTII Society and its disregard of the ongoing strike by the students of this leading Institute. We see a writer like Perumal Murugan being intimidated into declaring his death as a writer, a matter of dire shame in any society.
While the Prime Minister of the country has been conspicuously reticent in his response to the recent events, the reactions of BJP ministers in his government reveal their ignorance and prejudice. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Culture, has made abhorrent comments about mob lynching and murder. His remarks suggesting that writers should stop writing to prove their point are alarming – empowered as he is to take policy decisions in the domain of culture. Arun Jaitley, Minister of Finance, Information & Broadcasting, has mocked the actions of our respected writers as a manufactured ‘paper rebellion’. He asks for scrutiny of the political and ideological affiliations of those who are protesting.
To these and other such provocations there is a clear answer: while the actual affiliations of the protesting writers and artists, scholars and journalists may be many and varied, their individual and collective voices are gaining cumulative strength. It is this that the ruling party will have to reckon with: the protestors’ declared disaffiliation from a government that encourages marauding outfits to enforce a series of regressive commands in this culturally diverse country.
The scale of social violence and fatal assaults on ordinary citizens (as in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh; Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir; Faridabad, Harayana) is escalating. The contemptuous comments about the religious minorities and Dalits made by those within the government confirm that there is little difference between the RSS-BJP mainstream and supposed ‘fringe’ elements. The perfunctory warnings and regrets issued by ruling party ideologues – to defend the agendas of ‘development’ and ‘governance’ advanced by Mr Narendra Modi – are merely expedient. The Sangh Parivar and its Hindutva forces operating through their goon brigades form the support base of this government; they are all complicit in the attempts to impose conformity of thought, belief and practice.
The ideology of the ruling party has revealed its contempt for creative and intellectual work; bigotry and censorship will only grow. As in the past, we must challenge the divisive forces through varied forms of appeal and protest, articulation and refusal. Our demand can be nothing less than that the entire range of constitutional rights and freedoms of the citizens of this country – freedom of expression and speech, right to dissent and exert difference in life choices including culture and religion – be ensured.
A government that does not tolerate difference, that does not safeguard the lives and interests of its marginalized and vulnerable citizens, loses its legitimacy in a democratic polity. We are facing this situation now, already.
- Aastha Chauhan, artist, Delhi
- Aban Raza, artist, Delhi
- Abdul Mabood, Delhi
- Abhilasha Kumari, media professor, Delhi
- Abhimanue V.G., artist, Delhi
- Abhishek Hazra, artist, Bangalore
- Ahmar Raza, scientist, Delhi
- Aishwaryan K, artist, Bengaluru.
- Ajay Desai, artist, Delhi
- Aji V.N., artist, Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Akansha Rastogi, WALA collective, Delhi
- Akshaya Tankha, art historian, University of Toronto, Canada
- Alnoor Mitha, artist, curator, Manchester, UK
- Amar Kanwar, artist and filmmaker, Delhi
- Amrita Gupta Singh, art historian, Mumbai
- Anamika Haksar, theatre director, Mumbai
- Ananya Vajpeyi, CSDS, Delhi
- Anindita Bhattacharya, artist, Delhi
- Anish Ahluwalia, artist and filmmaker
- Anish Kapoor, artist, London
- Anita Dube, artist, Delhi
- Anjolie Ela Menon, artist, Delhi
- Anju Dodiya, artist, Mumbai
- Anjum Singh, artist, Delhi
- Anshuman Dasgupta, art historian, Santiniketan
- Anupam Saikia, Dept. of Fine Arts, University of Hyderabad
- Anupam Singh, artist, Mumbai
- Anuradha Kapur, theatre director, Delhi
- Aradhana Seth, production designer, artist, Goa
- Archana Hande, artist, Mumbai
- Arghya Priya Majumdar, artist, Santiniketan
- Arpana Caur, artist, Delhi
- Arpita Singh, artist, Delhi
- Arshad Hakim, artist, Shiv Nadar University, Greater Noida
- Arshiya Lokhandwala, curator, gallerist, Mumbai
- Arun Kumar H.G., artist, Delhi
- Arunima Choudhury, Kolkata
- Ashim Purkasthaya, artist, Delhi
- Ashis Kumar Das, artist, Mumbai
- Ashrafi S. Bhagat, art historian, Chennai
- Atreyee Gupta, art historian, Berlin
- Atul Bhalla, artist, Shiv Nadar University, Greater Noida
- Atul Dodiya, artist, Mumbai
- Aurora Graldi, PhD Candidate in South Asian Art History, Vienna University
- Avani Batra, Delhi
- Avinash Veeraraghavan, artist, Bangalore
- Ayisha Abraham, artist, Bangalore
- Babitha Lingraj, artist, Bangalore
- Babu Eshwar Prasad, artist and filmmaker, Bangalore
- Balan Nambiar, artist, Bangalore
- Balbir Krishan, artist, Delhi
- Belinder Dhanoa, art critic, Delhi
- Bhagath Singh E.K,artist,Kerala
- Bharathesh G.D., artist, Bangalore
- Bharati Kapadia, artist, Mumbai
- Bharti Kher, artist Delhi
- Bhavani G.S., artist, Bangalore
- Bhavani Shiva, artist, Bangalore
- Biju Jose, artist, Bangalore
- Bina Sarkar Elias, editor & publisher, International Galerie
- C.F. John, artist, Bangalore
- Catherine Asher, art historian, USA
- Chaitanya Sambrani, art historian, Canberra
- Champa Sharath, artist, Bangalore
- Chandrima Bhattacharyya, artist, Bangalore
- Chinar Shah, artist, Bangalore
- Chintan Upadhyay, artist, Delhi/Mumbai
- Chitra Ganesh, artist, New York, USA
- Christopher Pinney, art historian, London, UK
- Cop Shiva, photographer, Bangalore
- Deepa Mahajan, artist, Mumbai/Singapore
- Deepak Ananth, art historian, Paris
- Deepanjana Klein, art historian, New York, USA
- Deepika Sorabjee, curator, Mumbai
- Deeptha Achar, art critic, Baroda
- Dev Benegal, New York, USA
- Devika Daulet-Singh, gallerist, Delhi
- Dhruvi Acharya, artist, Mumbai
- Diana Gomes, artist, Baroda
- Dilip Mitra, artist, Santiniketan
- Dimple Shah, artist, Bangalore
- Dipti Khera, art historian, New York University, USA
- Faiza Hasan, artist, Hyderabad.
- G.S. Gopinath, artist, Bangalore
- Gargi Raina, artist Baroda
- Gauri Gill, photographer, Delhi
- Gayatri Sinha, art critic, Delhi
- Geeta Doctor, writer, Chennai
- Geeta Kapur, art critic, Delhi
- Geetha Mehra, gallerist, Mumbai
- Gieve Patel, artist, Mumbai
- Gigi Scaria, artist, Delhi
- Gopika Chowfla, graphic designer, Delhi
- Gopika Nath, artist-craftsperson and writer, Gurgaon
- Goutam Das, artist, Santiniketan
- Gulammohammed Sheikh, artist, Baroda
- Hans Kaushik, artist, Chennai
- Hema Upadhyay, artist, Mumbai
- Homita Harish Katira, artist, Columbia, SC, USA
- Homita, artist, Mumbai
- Indrapramit Roy, artist, Baroda
- Indu Chandrasekhar, publisher, Delhi
- Ivan Smith, artist, Belper, Derbyshire, UK
- Jahangir Asgar Jani, artist, Mumbai
- Jaideep Mehrotra, artist, Mumbai
- Jaideep Sen, artist, Bangalore
- Jaishri Abichandani, artist, New York, USA
- James Khamliansawma, artist, Aizawl, Mizoram
- Janice Glowski, art historian, Columbus, Ohio, USA
- Jasbeer Singh, artist, Belfast, Northern Ireland
- Jatin Das, artist, Delhi
- Jeetin Rangher, artist, Bangalore
- Jitish Kallat, artist, Mumbai
- Johny M.L., art critic, Delhi
- Justin Ponmany, artist, Mumbai
- Jyotindra Jain, art historian, Delhi
- K.G. Subramanyan, artist, Baroda
- K.P. Reji, artist, Baroda
- K.V. Raghavendra Rao, artist, Bangalore, Vancouver, Canada
- Karishma D’Souza, Panaji, Goa
- Karishma Shah, artist, Surat
- Kathryn Myers, Professor of Art, University of Connecticut, USA
- Kaushik Bhaumik, artist, Delhi
- Kausik Mukhopadhyay, artist, Mumbai
- Kim Kyoungae, artist, Baroda
- Kirtana Thangavelu, art historian, S.N. School, Hyderabad
- Kirti Jain, theatre director, Delhi
- Krishen Khanna, artist, Delhi
- Krishnaraj Chonat, artist, Bangalore
- Kuldeep Singh, artist
- Kumari Ranjeeta, artist , Shiv Nadar University, Greater Noida
- Kunal Kalra, artist, Hyderabad
- L.N. Tallur, artist, Kundapura
- L.N.V. Srinivas, artist, S.N. School, Hyderabad
- Lalitha Gopalan, video scholar, USA
- Lalitha Shankar, artist, Bangalore
- Latika Gupta, art historian, Delhi
- Leela Mayor, artist, Baroda
- Lokesh Khodke, artist, Delhi
- M.K. Raina, theatre director, Delhi
- Madhuban Mitra, artist, Kolkata
- Madhusree Dutta, filmmaker, Mumbai
- Madhusudhanan, artist, Kerala
- Mahesh G., artist, Mysore
- Mahjabin Imam Majumdar, artist, Santiniketan
- Mahula Ghosh, artist, Delhi
- Mala Marwah, artist, Delhi
- Malavika Rajnarayan, artist, Baroda
- Manas Bhattacharya, artist, Kolkata
- Manmohan, writer, Delhi
- Mansi Bhatt, artist, Mumbai
- Manuela Ciotti, visual anthropologist, Denmark
- Marie Dias Arora, artist, Delhi
- Mary-Louise Totton, art historian, USA
- Meera Devidayal, artist, Mumbai
- Meera Menezes, art critic, Delhi
- Megha Joshi, artist, Delhi
- Meher Pestonji, writer,Mumbai
- Mithu Sen, artist, Delhi
- Molly Emma Aitken, art historian, USA
- Mona Berman, Director, Mona Berman Fine Arts, New Haven, USA
- Moutushi Chakraborty, artist, Kolkata
- Myna Mukherjee, cultural curator, Delhi
- N. Ramachandran, artist, Chennai
- N.N. Rimzon, artist, Thiruvananthapuram
- N.S. Harsha, artist, Mysore
- Nalini Malani, artist, Mumbai
- Naman Ahuja, art historian, JNU, Delhi
- Nanaiah Chettira, artist, Bangalore
- Nanak Ganguly, art critic, Kolkata
- Nancy Adajania, art critic, Mumbai
- Nandesh Shanthi Prakash, artist, Bangalore
- Nataraj Sharma, artist, Baroda
- Natasha Ginwala, curator, Berlin/Ahmedabad
- Naveen Kumar, artist, Bangalore
- Navjot Altaf, artist, Mumbai
- Navroze Contractor, photographer, Bangalore
- Neelakshi Suryanarayan, University of Delhi, Delhi
- Neelam Man Singh Chowdhry, theatre director, Chandigarh
- Neha Choksi, Mumbai and Los Angeles, USA
- Nibha Sikander, artist, Baroda
- Nihaal Fazal, artist, Bangalore
- Nikhileswar Baruah, artist, Baroda
- Nilanjana S. Roy, writer, Delhi
- Nilima Shiekh, artist, Baroda
- Nirmala Beluka, artist, EFL, Hyderabad
- Niyatee Shinde, art and photography writer, curator, photo-historian, Mumbai
- Noopur Desai, art writer and researcher, Pune
- Oindrilla Maity Surai, curator, Kolkata
- Oli Ghosh, artist, Mumbai.
- Padma Kaimal, art historian, Colgate University, USA
- Parag Tandel, artist, Mumbai
- Paramjit Singh, artist, Delhi
- Parthiv Shah, photographer and designer, Delhi
- Parul Dave Mukherji, art historian, JNU, Delhi
- Parvati Nayar, artist, Chennai
- Paula Sengupta, artist, Kolkata
- Pavan K.J., artist, Mysore
- Payal Arya, artist, Shiv Nadar University, Greater Noida
- Philippe Calia, artist, Mumbai
- Pierre Strauch, Paier College of Art, USA
- Prabhavati Meppayil, artist, Bangalore
- Prajakta Palav Aher, artist, Mumbai.
- Prajakta Potnis, artist, Mumbai
- Pratul Dash, artist, Ghaziabad
- Pratul Dash, artist, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad
- Premalatha Seshadri, artist, Chennai
- Prithpal S Ladi, artist, Shillong
- Priti Paul, gallerist, Delhi
- Priya Ravish Mehra, artist, Delhi
- Priya Sundaravalli, artist, Auroville
- Purushottam Agrawal, writer, Delhi
- Pushpamala N., artist, Bangalore
- Rabindra Patra, artist, Delhi
- Radha Gomaty, Kochi, Kerala
- Ragini Bhow, artist, Bangalore
- Rahul Bhushan, graphic artist, Hyderabad
- Rahul Dev, art critic, Delhi
- Rahul J. Gajjar, artist, Baroda
- Rajan Barrett
- Rakhi Peswani, artist, Bangalore
- Ram Rahman, photographer, Delhi
- Raman Sivakumar, art historian, Santiniketan
- Ramesh Chandra, artist, Bangalore
- Ranbir Kaleka, artist, Delhi
- Ranjit Hoskote, art critic, Mumbai
- Ranjit Kandalgaonkar, artist, Mumbai
- Ranjith Raman, artist, Delhi
- Rashmee Pal Chouteau, artist, Kolkata
- Rashmi Kaleka, artist, Delhi
- Rashmimala Devi, artist, Baroda
- Rasna Bhushan, art critic, Hyderabad
- Ravikumar Kashi, artist, Bangalore
- Reena Saini Kallat, artist, Mumbai
- Rekha Rodwittiya, artist, Baroda
- Renu Modi, Gallery Espace, Delhi
- Risha Lee, Rubin Museum of Art, New York USA
- Riyas Komu, artist, Mumbai
- Rohini Devasher, artist, Delhi
- Rosalyn Dmello, art critic, Delhi
- Rupa Rani, artist, Delhi
- Rupali Patil, artist, Mumbai
- Rustom Bharucha, writer, Delhi
- Saba Hasan, artist, Delhi
- Sabina Jaitly, artist
- Sabitha T.P., art historian, UK
- Sachin Karne, artist, Baroda
- Sadanand Menon, photographer, critic, Chennai
- Sagar S. Naik Mule, artist, Hyderabad
- Sahej Rahal, artist, Mumbai
- Sajitha Madathil, actress, Kochi, Kerala
- Salik Ahmad, Delhi
- Saloni Mathur, art historian, UCLA, Los Angeles, USA
- Samit Das, artist, art historian, Delhi
- Sanchayan Ghosh, artist, Santiniketan
- Sandeep Biswas, photographer, Delhi
- Sandeep Singhal, art collector, Mumbai
- Sanjeev Khandekar, artist, Mumbai
- Santhoshkumar Sakhinala, art historian, Hyderabad
- Saravanan Parasuraman, artist, Chennai
- Sarita Chouhan, Mumbai
- Sasha Altaf, art critic, Mumbai/Miami USA
- Savithri Rajeevan, poet, painter, Baroda
- Shaibani Azam, animator, Delhi
- Shakuntala Kulkarni, artist, Mumbai
- Shamala Nandesha, artist, Bangalore
- Shanthamani Muddiah, artist, Bangalore
- Shanthi Swaroopini, artist,Hyderabad
- Sharan Apparao, gallerist Chennai
- N. Ramachandran, artist, Chennai
- Sharmila Samant, artist, Shiv Nadar University, Greater Noida
- Sheba Chhachhi, artist, Delhi
- Sheela Gowda, artist, Bangalore
- Shefalee Jain, artist, Ambedkar University Delhi
- Sheila Makhijani, artist, Delhi
- Sherna Dastur, designer, Delhi
- Shilpa Gupta, artist, Mumbai
- Shireen Gandhy, gallerist, Mumbai
- Shivaji.K. Panikkar, art historian, Delhi.
- Shreshta Rit Premnath, artist, New York, USA
- Shubha, writer, Delhi
- Shubhalakshmi Shukla, art writer, Mumbai
- Shuddhabrata Sengupta, artist, Raqs Media Collective, Delhi
- Shukla Sawant, artist, JNU, Delhi
- Sita Reddy, curator/writer, Hyderabad
- Smitha Cariappa, artist, Bangalore
- Sonal Khullar, art historian, Seattle, USA
- Sonam Chaturvedi, art student, Shiv Nadar University, Greater Noida
- Sonia Jabbar, photographer, filmmaker and graphic designer, Delhi
- Sonia Khurana, artist, Delhi
- Sosa Joseph
- Soumik Nandy Majumdar, art historian, Santiniketan
- Srajana Kaikini, curator, research scholar, Bangalore
- Sreshta Rit Premnath, Assistant Professor, Parsons Fine Arts, New York
- Subba Ghosh, artist, Delhi
- Subodh Gupta, artist, Delhi
- Subodh Singh Triparti, art history, sculpture, JNAFAU, Hyderabad
- Sudarshan Shetty, artist, Mumbai
- Sudhir Patwardhan, artist, Mumbai
- Sudipta Sen, artist, Kolkata
- Sugata Ray, art historian, University of California, Berkeley, USA
- Suguresh Sultanpur, artist, Baroda
- Suhas Nimbalkar, artist, Pune
- Suman Gopinath, curator, Bangalore
- Sumathi Ramaswamy, historian, visual culture, Duke Univ., USA
- Sumedh Rajendran, artist, Delhi
- Sumesh Sharma, curator, Clark House Initiative, Mumbai
- Suneel Sinha,theatre, film & TV worker, Mumbai
- Sunil Kothari, Delhi
- Surekha, artist, Bangalore
- Surendran Nair, artist, Baroda
- Suresh B.V., artist, Baroda
- Suresh Jayaram, art historian, Bangalore
- Susan S. Bean, independent curator, USA
- Swati Khurana, artist ,New York
- Tallur L.N., artist, Kundapura
- Tanmoy Samanta, artist, Delhi
- Tanuja Rane, artist, Mumbai
- Tara Sabharwal, artist, Delhi
- Tunty Chauhan,Threshold Art Gallery , Delhi
- Tushar Joag, artist, Shiv Nadar University, Greater Noida
- Udeya Vir Singh, artist, Bangalore
- Uma Shankar Pathak, artist, Delhi
- Umar Aman, Delhi
- Urvi Khanna, Delhi
- Ushmita Sahu, artist, curator, Santiniketan
- Ushmita Sahu, artist, curator, Santiniketan
- Manjari Chakravarti, artist, Santiniketan
- Vaishali Narkar, artist, Mumbai
- VaishaliNarkar, artist, Mumbai
- Valay Gada, artist/designer, Delhi
- Varsha Nair, artist, Baroda
- Varunika Saraf, artist, Hyderabad
- Vasudha Thozhur, artist, Delhi
- Vasvi Oza: artist, Gujarat
- Veena Bhargava, artist, Kolkata
- Veer Munshi, artist, Delhi
- Velu Viswanadhan, artist, Paris/ Chennai
- Vibha Galhotra, artist, Delhi
- Vidya Rao, Music, Delhi
- Vidya Shivadas, curator, Delhi
- Vijay Sekhon, artist, Mumbai
- Vinod Bhardwaj, art critic, Delhi
- Vishaka Chanchani, art educator, Bangalore
- Viswanadhan, artist, Paris
- Viswanath B.R., artist/cinematographer, Bangalore
- Vivan Sundaram, artist, Delhi
- Yamini Nayar, artist
- Yardena Kurulkar, artist, Mumbai
- Yashodhara Dalmia, art critic, Delhi
- Yashwant Deshmukh, artist, Mumbai
- Yunus Khimani, artist, Jaipur
see also:
- Public Statements by Four Indian Artists on 27 October 2015
- K.G. Subramanyan, Krishen Khanna, Anjolie Ela Menon and Subodh Gupta
