Heavy rains dampen art fraternity’s protest

MUMBAI: The city’s artists did not turn out in full to support “freedom of expression” after a visitor to the Jehangir Art Gallery objected to the exhibition, Tits, Clits ’N’ Elephant Dick, on Saturday.

In response to an SMS that was sent to about 200 people, only 25 turned up. You could blame the rains for that.

“But senior artists like Akbar Padamsee supported us tremendously on the phone and told us about the court ruling in 1954 about obscenity in art,” said Ashish Balram Nagpal, an art dealer who came out in support of artists Sanjeev Khandekar and Vaishali Narkar.

Artist Bose Krishnamachari, who visited the Jehangir Art Gallery to help the cause, said, “As an artist, I feel that moral policing is not good for Indian art.”

Some 175 people signed the visitors’ book supporting the bold theme of the exhibition, which looked at the use of the Internet to explore dark sexual urges. The exhibition closed on Sunday.