Bovine boundaries now?

The police have paid for their hasty action as two officers have been suspended. Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje felt “saddened” at the incident and the police commissioner has apologised to artistes.

Ahluwalia wondered if more and more animals would now follow the cow. “Will you now penalise civic workers for killing rats because they are Lord Ganesha’s vaahans?” he asked. The artist feels any group or individual looking at plural interpretations of an art work are free to disagree or agree but their protests cannot be violent or intimidating. “We find some hope in Raje’s actions, and governments should come out to say they don’t endorse bias. This should percolate down to the lower rungs,” he said.

One of the leading artists in the country and father of Chintan Upadhyay, Vidyasagar Upadhyay, questions the often used and abused word “responsibility”. “Yes, the VHP has issued a statement saying the incident did not send a good message to society. But it also said that artists have a responsibility. Does the society have no responsibility? If one individual is hurt, should the entire society follow him?” he asks. He adds, “The artist is just an individual, the society is a larger force. People should come together against such acts of vandalism. Had the ‘society’ taken action from the beginning, these incidents wouldn’t have happened.”

An artist’s intent is often misunderstood — it is assumed that what we see reflects their personal opinion, points out Shailendra Bhatt, founder-director, Jaipur Art Summit. “Every artist, be it a writer, a painter, a composer, does a lot of research before bringing their work to a forum. It’s not their personal opinion. They are simply trying to hold a mirror to society. People should not focus on an individual’s medium of expression. They should look at the message behind it. In this case, the message was that we should not litter public space with plastic or other garbage, as they are poisonous for animals, especially cows.” An artist’s intention is never to harm anyone, Vidyasagar says. “It is the tendency to find ulterior motives in art that needs to stop,” he adds.

For an artist, the most important aspect is freedom of expression feels Chennai-based Rama Suresh, who runs the gallery Art Expressions. “An artist should be able to use any medium of his preference, be it the canvas or a plastic cow. Including political agendas in art is something I don’t appreciate,” he says. According to him, Siddharth Kararwal shouldn’t have been penalised because Hinduism as a religion itself, depicts the cow in many art forms. “Be it paintings or sculptures of Nandi, we portray the cow in various mediums. In this case, the artist only expressed his concern about cows dying a painful death due of plastic consumption. The NGOs who misinterpreted this, should be more concerned about providing cattle a safe habitat and nourishing food to eat, instead of pinpointing the installation.” Further, he says that society should reform their views about art - “A writer is given so much of freedom to express his/her views through words, so why aren’t artists or sculptors given the same freedom?” he questions. “Everybody has their own sense of style, and this creative outburst shouldn’t be curtailed,” he adds.