<p>Organisers of the Delhi Art Gallery, which is running a nude painting exhibition, held a peaceful protest on Wednesday against relentless objection by the women wing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The VHP women wing is demanding to ban the exhibition.<br /><br />“Several people from the art fraternity joined us, including Manu Parekh, Ram Rehman and Chintan Upadhayay. The show is still on,” said an organiser of the art event.<br /><br />The exhibition titled ‘The Naked and the Nude: The Body in Indian Modern Art’ has some 250 paintings. “They are the works of artists known for their exploration and celebration of the body, such as F N Souza, M F Husain, K H Ara and K Laxma Goud, among others,” said a statement by the art gallery on its website.<br /><br />The exhibition will end on March 15.<br /><br />“This peaceful protest was to counteract the growing threat and intolerance to India’s liberal traditions. The VHP women’s wing protesters could not enter the gallery. There were a handful of them, and they were taken away by police,” said the organiser.<br />VHP spokesperson Vinod Bansal called the government and police “blind” in not acting sternly against nudity depicted in the paintings.<br /><br />“We have been trying to ban this exhibition. But it seems the government and police will not do much about it. There is a meeting on Thursday, where it will be decided whether we will take legal action in the matter,” said Bansal.<br /><br />According the VHP, the paintings objectifies and commodifies women. “When atrocities against women in Delhi are rising, such paintings are a deterrent to the real values of our tradition,” said a VHP member. <br /><br />A statement by the gallery said the exhibition explores a popular thematic concept in art, that of the human body and how artists have looked at it historically as a part of their narrative. “This exploration has been a part of the tradition in the West as well as in India. It is also a part of national heritage and is represented by the country’s great masters,” said the statement.<br /></p>
<p>Organisers of the Delhi Art Gallery, which is running a nude painting exhibition, held a peaceful protest on Wednesday against relentless objection by the women wing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The VHP women wing is demanding to ban the exhibition.<br /><br />“Several people from the art fraternity joined us, including Manu Parekh, Ram Rehman and Chintan Upadhayay. The show is still on,” said an organiser of the art event.<br /><br />The exhibition titled ‘The Naked and the Nude: The Body in Indian Modern Art’ has some 250 paintings. “They are the works of artists known for their exploration and celebration of the body, such as F N Souza, M F Husain, K H Ara and K Laxma Goud, among others,” said a statement by the art gallery on its website.<br /><br />The exhibition will end on March 15.<br /><br />“This peaceful protest was to counteract the growing threat and intolerance to India’s liberal traditions. The VHP women’s wing protesters could not enter the gallery. There were a handful of them, and they were taken away by police,” said the organiser.<br />VHP spokesperson Vinod Bansal called the government and police “blind” in not acting sternly against nudity depicted in the paintings.<br /><br />“We have been trying to ban this exhibition. But it seems the government and police will not do much about it. There is a meeting on Thursday, where it will be decided whether we will take legal action in the matter,” said Bansal.<br /><br />According the VHP, the paintings objectifies and commodifies women. “When atrocities against women in Delhi are rising, such paintings are a deterrent to the real values of our tradition,” said a VHP member. <br /><br />A statement by the gallery said the exhibition explores a popular thematic concept in art, that of the human body and how artists have looked at it historically as a part of their narrative. “This exploration has been a part of the tradition in the West as well as in India. It is also a part of national heritage and is represented by the country’s great masters,” said the statement.<br /></p>
