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Controversies make life more interesting," announced Maqbool Fida
Husain somewhat grandly in his first interview to the press after
returning to the city unannounced, on Tuesday morning. The
81-year-old artist has come back to Mumbai after three months spent
in virtual confinement abroad following the public uproar over his
'offensive' sketch of goddess Saraswati.
"My work has not been understood. But a time will come when people
will appreciate my art," he said. Husain said he thought the
outrage was a natural reaction from some sections of society.
"People tend to resent any new form of art. After the Renaissance,
the works of the impressionists created a hue and cry in society.
People felt that those strikingly colourful paintings were an
Insult to art. Today, however, the paintings are regarded as
classics. Mywork is modern art, a symbolic and poetic
interpretation of reality. This art is only 50 years old and the
masses have yet to accept it."
The police have charged the artist with creating enmity between
groups of people on grounds of religion and for outraging religious
feelings. But Husain said he was clear that he was not the guilty
party. "The people who protested were ignorant. Perhaps they are
unaware that another name for Saraswati is Shwetambari, which means
decked in white, like the sky. My sketch implied she was so pure
that she did not need to be covered with clothes. This is the way
purity was depicted even in ancient times, or temples would not
have sculptures of nude deities. Vulgarity lies in the eyes of the
beholder," he said emphatically.
"And though all may not agree with my viewpoint, I still cannot be
held responsible for the violence that broke out," he said. "The
sketch which 'Vichar Manch' published was a preparatory sketch, one
of the numerous rough drafts I make when an idea suddenly strikes
me. It was neither signed nor meant for public circulation. In
fact, I don't even know where the original sketch is now. If a
magazine decides to publish a 20-year-old sketch without the
artist's knowledge and that incites violence among people, then who
is responsible - the artist or the publisher?" he asked.
"If the magazine considered the sketch obscene, why did it publish
it? moreover, the publisher's action was a breach of my copyright.
I could pursue the matter if I desired. But in the 60 years of my
artistic career, I have never held a confrontational attitude," he
said. "I am an artist and I feel inclined to believe that those
who protested did so in complete ignorance of aesthetics. If there
were other motives behind blowing the matter out of proportion, I
cannot say what those motives are."
While stating that artists do take liberty in interpreting things
in the manner In which they desire, he agreed that they could not
be dictators and force their viewpoint on others. "People have
every right to disagree, criticise and abuse. In a free society,
this right should be respected. So I was not disturbed when I read
about the developments. But neither artists nor the public should
abuse this privilege and resort to violence," he said, referring to
the vandalism which wrecked some of his works last September.
Many of his valuable canvases were destroyed when protesters burnt
down his studio in Ahmedabad. But Husain appears to be unruffled.
"Such events are minor ripples In the ocean of Indian art and
culture," he said, loftily dismissing his loss. "I prefer to
consider it as an 'agnipariksha'. Only time will tell whether
modern art survives such, tests."
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