Kerala artists booked for vandalising Algerian-French artist’s work at Kochi gallery
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Kochi: Kerala Police have registered a case against two local artists for allegedly vandalising the work of Algerian-French artist Hanan Benammar at the Durbar Hall Art Gallery in Kochi. The incident occurred during the international exhibition Estranged Geographies, curated by Anushka Rajendran and Damian Christinger.
The accused, Hochimin P H and Sudamshu, reportedly destroyed seven linocut graphic prints by Benammar around 6.30 p.m. on Wednesday, just before the gallery closed. Only two individuals were present at the time of the incident.
The case was filed following a complaint by Murali Cheeroth, Chairperson of the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi, which organised the exhibition. The First Information Report (FIR) was registered under sections 329(3) (criminal trespass), 324(4) (criminal mischief causing loss), and 3(5) (criminal act by several persons with common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The FIR states that the accused trespassed into the gallery and destroyed the artwork of the internationally acclaimed artist.
Hochimin, one of the accused, denied tearing the prints, claiming instead that he had “removed” them in protest. “I have registered my protest. The translations are obscene and anti-women. It should have been displayed for public view,” he said.
Akademi chairperson Cheeroth condemned the act, calling it a “baseless campaign” and an attack on artistic freedom. “There was no obscenity as alleged by the persons who vandalised the work. It was a baseless campaign. Instead of raising concerns through discussion, they vandalised the gallery,” he said.
He added that the incident had outraged Kerala’s art community. “The incident is an attack on artistic freedom and has outraged the art community in Kerala. The damaged work was part of a prestigious international show, which was backed by reputed cultural organisations and embassies. The attack was meant to disrupt the state’s peaceful landscape,” Cheeroth said.