Author: M F Husain
Publication: DNA (Daily News & Analysis)
Date: May 07, 2006
URL: http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1028151
[Note from the Hindu Vivek Kendra: A Times
of India report of April 11, 2006, says that the painter has offered to apologise
and so the Supreme Court of India has stayed the hearings objecting to his
work of nude goddesses. And now we have this. Can there be a greater perversion?]
We Indians are proud to create a civilisation
of art and culture, enshrined in the sanctity of the Ajanta and Ellora caves
and temples for the last 5,000 years. Here the goddesses are pure and uncovered.
Here the nudity is not nakedness, it's a form of innocence and maturity. Take
the monumental form of Mahaveera and the carvings of Khajuraho. They evoke
spirituality.
We, the Indian painters of significance, are
the direct descendants of that golden era of great vision which transcends
mundane reality into eternity.
The ultimate presence of Shiva-Parvati exists
in cosmic space not hedged in by boundaries of the tiny planet called Earth.
Michelangelo's Pieta, in marble, is a masterpiece in recreating reality but
Shiva-Parvati in bronze go beyond reality.
For the last 50 years, an enlightened body
of Indian painters has been engaged in reconnecting the reality of the ancient
cultural heritage to our time. As in every human endeavour, Faith is at the
core of it all. With great care and reverence for all faiths, the Indian sub-continent
has evolved a unique secular culture.
I am a humble contributor towards the creation
of a great Indian composite culture. I would like to pinpoint certain factors
of my 70-year-long journey as a painter. A childhood fascination for the white
horse of the Muharram duldul. And the Ashwamedha horse of Luv-Kush.
A panel on Indian village life titled Zameen
at the Museum of Modern Art in New Delhi.
About 150 works painted on the versions of
the Ramayana by Valmiki and Tulsidas, for a foundation in Hyderabad. Dr Dharamvir
Bharati published this series under the title of Husain's Ramayana.
29 works on the Mahabharat exhibited along
with Picasso in Brazil in 1971. Painted Teorema, nine panels depicting various
faiths including Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Jainism, Christianity
and Zoroastrianism. These panels were exhibited at the UN in New York.
