Cows don’t fly

The police brought down and destroyed a styrofoam cow that was suspended mid-air as an installation piece at the Jaipur Art Summit after ‘terribly hurt’ protesters brought it to their notice. Artists react to the cow being made the scapegoat yet again...

The increasingly voluble language of intolerance in India has found a predictable scapegoat — the cow. The latest victim has been a flying polystyrene bovine, dangling from a helium balloon at the ongoing Jaipur Art Summit. Artist Siddhartha Kararwal’s ‘The Bovine Divine’ installation was meant to highlight the plight of cows in urban areas that scavenge and choke on plastic. But no, some activists would have none of it. ‘Terribly hurt’, they turned to the Jaipur police to haul the installation down. The police obliged, and heckled and detained two artists — Chintan Upadhyay and Anish Ahluwalia — for protesting too much.

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. But There are many buts.

Upadhyay points out on a Facebook post: “ trauma suffered by artists who faced or witnessed brutal behavior of the Jaipur police remains. Siddharth Kararwal’s art work that became the target of police action and which was dismantled and removed was made with intent and passion. Unfortunately, its loss cannot be compensated.”

Who should then apologise for that misplaced “intent and passion” Will more animals become out of bounds for artistes now

“These elements are not a monolithic entity,” says Anish Ahluwalia, “They are diverse groups, splintered groups. Who will you control ” “We witnessed unbridled irrationality over the weekend. Activists garlanded the cow and told the police, yeh sthaapith ho gaya hai! Such irrationality is nothing but an excuse for confrontation. And, are they forcing young artistes to practise self-censorship ” he added.

Ahluwalia wondered if 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 artwork is free to disagree 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. Responsibility of what, I ask. Does the society have no responsibility If one individual felt hurt, should the entire society follow him ” he asked. He added, “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 against such people from the beginning, these incidents would not 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.” Also, an artist’s intention is never to harm anyone, Vidyasagar points out. “It is the tendency to find ulterior motives in art that needs to stop,” he says.

Some feel the media can play a corrective role to curb the menace. Renowned painter Gogi Sarojpal who was part of the summit said, “This is not a first of its kind incident. It happened when Souza and Akbar’s nude paintings were displayed in the Jehangir Art Gallery. Art has always challenged society and people have objected to it. It is also the media’s responsibility to educate people about art rather than trivialise issues. We artists should understand that because our work can challenge public imagination, we need to explain our work. We should make people aware and make them a part of the basic awareness campaign. In this particular incident, the artist was working on cows’ position in society. More cows are on streets now than ever. We worship them one day but throw leftovers the very next day. They are eating plastic along with garbage. Is this not responsibility of the society And, I am part of the society too. This artist was making a statement that cows are not being looked after well but he should have issued a statement making people aware so that they start taking responsibility, no controversy is created and the message doesn’t get diluted.”

Almost all artists unanimously believe the miscreants in this case are not even fit to offer an apology. “They don’t think that have done anything wrong, else they wouldn’t have done it at all,” Vidyasagar says. Echoing him is senior artist and writer Vinod Bhardwaj. He says, “People who protested are the ones who don’t understand art. Their sole motive is to make noise. If they were really serious about it, they would have asked the artist about the installation — what is it called, what is its purpose — before reacting to it. The CM’s action is commendable but we cannot expect an apology from those who are responsible for it.”

Brinda Miller: Artist and Curator, Kala Ghoda This is not something new though, In Kala Ghoda and the traffic island in Mumbai we have had cows that have been taken off. If the government and the officers have apologised (for the cow installation), they should now put the installation back and that will be a true apology. If they have only apologised on paper and do not mean it, it is simply out of political pressure.

Cows have been out-of-bounds of artists’ creative expression for many years now. I remember some three years ago Peta had come up with an installation made of fake leather patches to spread awareness about the slaughter of cows for manufacturing leather, we wouldn’t even put it up and there was displeasure amongst various groups. Beautiful coloured cows were put up outside Jehangir Art Gallery for Kala Ghoda and cops came and took it off saying they might hurt people’s sentiments. In Switzerland, artists had a festival where they painted cows on the streets. We tried replicating the same in Mumbai, outside the IMC Wing in Churchgate and we had to again take it off. It has always been about cows in India.

The installation was an interesting work of art, and if you put something in the air it is bound to get more attention and draw people towards it. The minute it went up I was sure it would come down. The fact that it stayed up there for half an hour was a miracle in itself and it serves the artist’s purpose. We live in totally intolerant times, there is informal censorship everywhere. Even if I’m curating something I will make sure I think twice, keeping in mind that the artwork will be on display at a public space and we want peace. We don’t want to displease the government.

Bose Krishnamachari: Artist I thought the installation was interesting For me, art is freedom; inside my home and outside of it. We live in a democratic country. Nobody can tell me what colour I can use and what shape I could sculpt and what I could create. If an issue like this curbs our freedom of expression, we artistes will be making objects and not art.

The cow as a figure has appeared in the works of many contemporary artistes. So I don’t know why a group needs to have an issue right now.

I think artistes are socially aware, responsible citizens and should be given the freedom to express what they want. There is this growing insecurity among these artistes — the FTII controversy is one of the biggest examples. I think we are turning into a critical nation. I don’t think shunning creative work is the way to go about it.

Inputs from Sanjay Bohra, Aarti Bhanushali and Julie Sam