Protest: Exhibition of M F Husain’s paintings at New Delhi

There is a Paintings exhibition at Dhoomimal Art Gallery, put together by Design Alliance and Dhoomimal Art gallery is called Art in Aid of National Art Forum for Destitute. The exhibition includes Anti-Hindu painter M F Husain’s paintings. The Exhibition is from 21 October to 5 November. Anti-Hindu painter M F Husain has drawn nude and defamatory paintings of Hindu Deities and Bharat Mata. It is duty of all devout Hindus and patriot Indians to protest lawfully against organisers of the Exhibition, so that they should remove paintings of M F Husain from the Exhibition and they should not repeat such mistake in future.

It is rare to find a mix of works by renowned artists like M F Hussain and Anjolie Ela Menon and few upcoming artists under one roof. But the art enthusiasts in the city have an opportunity to have a look at the unique mix of works and be a part of the noble cause through this art exhibition. Reports Sharanya Hrishikesh

Colourful landscapes, interesting abstracts and paintings that can just fit your imagination — you will get to witness art works of varied kinds. And if you are the one who always look out for the paintings by the stalwarts namely MF Hussain, F N Souza, Anjolie Ela Menon, Vaikuntam, Satish Gujral and Krishen Khanna among many others, then too you won’t be disappointed. The unique exhibition at Dhoomimal Art Gallery, put together by Design Alliance and Dhoomimal Art gallery is called Art in Aid of National Art Forum for Destitute and displays the works of renowned as well as upcoming artists. Besides paintings, the exhibition also showcases carpets that display works by the stalwarts from the field of art.

“We are displaying paintings by masters as well as young and upcoming artists. While some of the paintings have been selected from our collection, the artists themselves have given others,” shares the curator of the exhibition Uday Jain and informs further that the basic aim of the exhibition is to help a noble cause. “The bulk of the proceeds from the exhibition will go to an NGO called National Art Forum for Destitute, run by one of the young artists, Gauri Sahni. This NGO aims to promote self-employment among the youth through vocational training,” says Jain about the paintings and Sunil Sethi from Design Alliance informs about the carpets, “We have reproduced the original paintings of stalwarts like Manjit Bawa, Husain, Ram Kumar and Vaikuntam. This was a creative idea that occurred to us when we were thinking in terms of offering to the people something different from what is available in the market. The proceeds from the sale of this part of the exhibition will be donated to People for Animals, an NGO that works with stray animals.”

The other motive of the exhibition was also to give an opportunity to the art enthusiasts to come and view under one roof a mix of works by noted and upcoming artists. The artists participating in the exhibition are surely overwhelmed and say that every artist desires to contribute to some cause through his or her works, and this for sure is a great opportunity. Says artist Niren Sengupta, “When an NGO that does good things for people approaches me for my support, I am always happy to help. Many of my paintings depict social problems in India. I believe whole-heartedly in Swami Vivekananda’s message that we should serve the people instead of just sitting back and leading comfortable lives. I try to highlight a spiritual angle also in my paintings, as I try to portray the lives of poor people. I have used bright colours in my painting in the exhibition to symbolise purity.” Even Nimbalkar, an artist, shares his happiness and says that one can find the brightest hues in his works displayed at the exhibition. “I come from a place in Maharashtra called Malwa. My work draws inspiration from that,” smiles Nimbalkar.

Sethi adds that he surely feels proud to be associated with the exhibition. “Also, it gives a lot of satisfaction to be able to do a show like this for charity,” he says.

The exhibition starts today and ends on November 5.

Dear Sir,

M.F. Hussain has earned fame for his art. But over the last several decades he has intentionally shown Hindu Gods and goddesses in nude or vulgar form, without limbs etc. He has also shown Bharath Matha in a vulgar form. Also inspite of apologizing to the Hindus he has neither withdrawn the art pieces nor has stopped such actions. By promoting the art of such a person, you are joining him in hurting the religious sentiments of the majority Hindus of this country. You are requested to show the door to the Hussain art and join the National cause.

Would you dare to exhibit the art of Danish cartoon maker whose cartoons created world wide furore in the name of Freedom of Expression of artists