9 days have passed since the attack on the Shanaakht Festival 2009. I wrote the post below in a fit of rage and distress. Based on new information and people’s reactions, I now believe I should not have said all that I did, on a public blog. I certainly have a right to my opinion, but for someone who was preaching judiciousness, I think I didn’t practise it myself. I am not ashamed to admit mistakes; we’ve all learnt a lot from this incident, and in the wake of the deals that our government is signing, more so than ever, we need to stick together, collaborate, and avoid saying and doing things that cause divisiveness. One voice in my head tells me to remove this post altogether. Another voice tells me to remove certain portions. There is no right answer and I admit I’m confused. If I’ve done any damage, it’s already been done and Google has cached it. So, I’ll leave the original post as is, lest I then be accused of tampering with content because of sinister agendas.
Based on new information, I would like to publicly retract whatever I have written against VASL, and I also admit, that even if I felt what I did, it was not appropriate to write about it here, and I apologize. Going forward, I hope that we will all emerge stronger after this horrid incident and will continue to work together and support each other’s work.
Much has already been said and written about the Shanaakht Festival 2009 and the subsequent cancellation. My stance, very quickly, since there is a lot of BAD STUFF happening and my brain and heart are devastated …
I am enraged about the shutdown of the festival barely a few hours after it began with such vibrancy and energy. The pain of T2F’s eviction from its original premises was somewhat alleviated by the excitement of being at the festival and being able to continue with our programming for 5 days in a public space.
I will attempt to put my rage and aggravation into perspective …
Everyone, not just an artist, has a right to self-expression. Governments have no right to muzzle independent points of view or interpretations of events. That’s obvious. I am not an idiot and don’t need to be told that.
HOWEVER …
The reality is that we live in a city that makes international news, every single day, for incidents of violence and terror. Against this chilling backdrop, artists, curators, organizers of public festivals, and anyone working for the cause of arts and culture need to be cognizant and sharply aware of reactionaries, political workers, double agents, the evil designs of members of spaces designed to support the arts, the sensibilities of the junta, the games people play, and everything else that you can’t possibly pre-empt. This makes doing anything at all extremely difficult. And that is our challenge.
And so, the very act of submitting an artwork for a free, open, public festival being held in the heart of an out-of-control city, displaying BB sitting on Zia’s lap, indicates that the artist is disengaged from reality. The work itself was monumentally stupid. I say this not as a PPP or BB supporter but as an individual who can’t suffer fools.
Moving on … the idiotic artwork was submitted to VASL which curated the Sohni Dharti exhibition. Apparently CAP was asked if the work should be included and gave it a green signal. VASL should have rejected it upon receipt.
CAP has duly acknowledged that this ‘offensive contribution’ should not have been put up and have apologized repeatedly through press releases and at a press conference. I’m glad that they are taking responsibility. However, I am appalled that VASL has not.
My elevator pitch: I strongly oppose the inclusion of the above mentioned artwork in the festival on the grounds of lack of judiciousness and prudence. I even more vehemently condemn the manner in which PSF and PPP workers lodged their protest; i.e. by storming the Arts Council with guns and sticks, spreading terror and mayhem, hurling abuse at everyone in sight, and destroying art and property.
As a CAP founder member and as a collaborative participant in the festival, I have some questions:
1. Why has VASL not stepped forward and acknowledged their role in creating this mess?
2. Why has the government condoned the manner in which the armed hoodlums lodged their protest?
3. What was the role of the Karachi Arts Council in the attack? Why were they not pro-active in handling the armed, violent attackers? Were they complicit?
All art and cultural activities will now be further under attack in this city. We don’t have the luxury of making mistakes like this. We have to live for our causes, not die for them – and to fight obscurantism, oppression, and extremism, we need to be smart, savvy, and strategic.
Oh, and for all of you who think that the show should have gone on, PLEASE, get real. I was there throughout the attack. There WAS firing and the threat was severe and frightening. We were trying to get our American guest speakers out of there alive as well as pack up all our stuff whilst trying to stay safe from bullets. You can’t fight armed madmen with art and poetry when they’re out of control and calling for blood. CAP did the right thing to cancel the show and I stand by their decision.
Aur haan, 17 crore Pakistani diloñ kee aek shanaakht naheen hae. Let us not delude ourselves and let’s embrace our myriad identities and celebrate our diversity.
As someone who was there till almost the end I am glad that CAP decided what it did. Without government sureties and protection it’s impossible (in fact it’s difficult enough with them).
I found the work stupid too, and – like you – cannot suffer fools. But that’s a view others may not share. And, even if they do, stupidity is not a crime or a sin. So I’d spare the artist and not hold her responsible while stating our personal view of iyt being a meaningless and bad piece of work.
Exhibiting it is certainly worth criticizing, as is the possible complicity of the Arts Council itself
Just wanted to elaborate upon my first sentence. When Ii said difficult enough with them, I meant that despite their support, public spaces and events are under constant threat and attack from far too many directions: fundos, various parties, nutcase individuals.
I stand by CAP’s decision too. My regrets was that this event had to be shut down.
Also, Thank you for informing about VASL role in it. I didnt even know. I am sure many didnt know about it.
Am glad you summed up this post with the lines in bold. It is high time we realize it and start living with it, it is saddening but true
I remember walking past the art work thinking, OK! that’s a bold statement, perhaps its alright for Pakistani artists to display such works in public spaces now. I was amused by its presence and then didnt give it any more thought.
As an art work i didnt find it particularly impressive.
Today, i feel i am still recovering from yesterday’s press conference. I am disappointed by the turn of events. Could the fact that one ridiculous photograph would cause such a reaction be foreseen? What were the guidelines for accepting art work for display?
My video installation piece for the festival was about the Sri Varun Dev Mandir in Manora and about Hindu Muslim shared histories. Had it been up longer, would that have offended someone or other too?
How about a “what’s next” – post?
Sabeen, no doubt the picture was provocative and O can see why it was construed the way it was. But I think we failed to see the underlying message in that picture which was democracy in the lap of dictatorship. I feel the party workers who created a scene failed to see what the picture was saying and focused only on the visual representation that they could see. Another point that I would like to make is that from earliest childhood growing up in Pakistan we are encouraged by our parents, families, teachers and schools to create art, to read, to write, to act, to sing, we are encouraged to think out of the box. We are made to read Faiz and Jalib, introduced to dissenting artwork. Even on family vacations parents will take us to museums and art exhibitions introducing us to controversial material and encouraging us to form our own opinions regarding that work. I believe the weak will conform and the strong will fight against the current. In school teachers would always encourage discussions and debates, many a times literature and history classes have been places where a 3rd world war might erupt due to differences in morality and political thought yet our teachers always encouraged us to question and debate. At a later stage in life, places like T2F or the Karafilm festival or Alliance Francaise indirectly encouraged us to hold opinions to voice them,to debate them,to dissent and do all this in a civil manner. I interned at CAP in the summer of 2008, there were various people of different political and religious ideologies. There were many heated arguments between pro-Musharaff supporters and anti-Musharaff supporters and plenty of debates between pro-secular supporters and pro-Islami nizam supporters yet we all learned to accept our differences and work together as a team for Pakistan. Now that we are all at university our Profs and TAs encourage the same thing, you are free to voice your own opinions in a civilized manner and not get hurt, you can express yourself any way you want. Over here at university we have the MSA(muslim students association) and right next door we have a gay muslim support group, both organisations do not get along ideologically yet they are willing to work together in harmony. But once we are thrust out into the real world in Pakistan, the same voices that used to encourage free thinking and dissent suddenly ask us to remain silent and turn a blind eye. Why this incongruity in messages? Why teach us the French revolution and Faiz and about free speech, artistic liberty and poetic licence when we can not practice any of this in our own country? And someone even tries to speak out against this sort of hooliganism and tyrannical dictates he is immediately silenced. That picture should now be exhibited some where in the city maybe T2F just as symbol of protest against the silencing of free speech, expression and freedom of thought.
I don’t think we all agree (or is it most of us) that the ‘artwork’ was in poor taste. Coz if that is art, then the web is full of such sleazy ‘artworks’ that are photoshopped images of politicians and celebrities portrayed in all sorts of manners (I am reminded of the image with Benazir sitting on a bicycle, in front, with Musharraf).
I understand the strong sentiments of the PPP supporters – they were prone to act this way (we are a very emotional nation) – but the PPP leadership should have come forward and made amends in the way the supporters dealt with this issue.
It’s sad that Shanaakht had to meet such a fate! My heart goes out to you and others who were part of this positive event.
[...] Will the real culprits please stand up! – Beanz [...]
so many times cowasjee said some controversial thing regarding pakistan at t2f, imagine if we had started creating a hue and cry over all that. would that place be as successful as it is today if that had happened? we accepted that cowasjee had different views from us, we might not have agreed with them but we accepted them. that is how it should be not the other way round where one needs to be quiet because it might make someone else angry.
I am glad to have read an overview of the festival from someone who was actively involved.There is no doubt in my mind that the Art council authorities should have been more careful. Being liberal is one thing and going up a blind alley is another.Though I sincerely that our people learn tolerance, I would really appreciate if others at authority be a little more considered next time. Id there is a next time that is.
I agree with you 100%.
Someone here was saying that one should see that the picture represented democracy in the lap of dictatorship. It does not take a wild imagination to stretch the analogy to a lot of other offensive-to-many images.
Art without sensibilities is not art – nothing more than printing abuses on flyers and having them plane-dropped – too easy and just not right.
[...] Will the real culprits please stand up! – Beanz [...]
Cant agree more with you, what happened was tragic for the citizens of Karachi city who deserve good entertaining plus educational entertainment on a large scale. I feel really awful for you, other organizers and volunteers who put their heart and soul into this project and the blunder of a curator destroyed it all.
I am still hopeful and looking forward for thes events to resume on t2f v2. Please dont throw your boxer gloves down
Sabeen, I have nothing but respect and admiration for what you and T2F have done to create a cultural space in Karachi, and I can understand your frustration and rage – and share in it.
But what is it that you want from VASL? You say you want them to acknowledge their role – does that mean you’re asking them to apologise for the painting, just as CAP did? Can we think for a moment where this leaves the artist? If VASL distances themselves from the painting and apologises for it that leaves the artist alone as target while everyone else moves out of the frame and says ‘sorry, i made a mistake.’ That seems to me an entirely horrifying possibility. T2F is about creating a sense of community in the world of arts and culture – isolating an artist or an arts group when the men with guns are about seems to go directly against that.
I’m not saying that CAP alone should bear the brunt of hostility.Of course not. Instead there has to be a way for CAP and VASL and every other group involved with, or supportive of, Shanaakht to declare they stand together and all bear equal responsibility. That’s what needs to be figured out. This is a time for all artists and people in the cultural sphere to come together and say that, regardless of our personal responses to the artwork, we uphold the right of artists to exhibit work without threats of violence. That has to be the single and united message we put forward rather than turning on each other and doing anything to diffuse the blame that is due to the people who closed down the show.
Privately, of course, we will continue our conversations of how to negotiate the treacherous waters which pit ‘freedom of expression’ against ‘the safety of the wider community attached to a project’ – of course that’s an issue. But now is the time for focussed and undiluted public condemnation of those who force us to have those kinds of private conversations.
I have just read the various comments regarding the exhibit, which was trying to make a point but in poor taste. Yes it appears the curators were not offended but it is important to be aware of the sensibilities of the wider public- besides the conotation of any woman sitting on a man’s lap is always open to the worst implications.
@rameez …
I had to read your comment 3 times – particularly this part
from earliest childhood growing up in Pakistan we are encouraged by our parents, families, teachers and schools to create art, to read, to write, to act, to sing, we are encouraged to think out of the box. We are made to read Faiz and Jalib, introduced to dissenting artwork. Even on family vacations parents will take us to museums and art exhibitions introducing us to controversial material and encouraging us to form our own opinions regarding that work … In school teachers would always encourage discussions and debates
I am not sure if you and I live in the same country. Also, I am amazed – if what you say about parents and teachers is true – at your luck in having such wonderful people, opportunities, and vacations.
This a very select group you are talking about. And, yes, that group continues to uphold many such liberal ideas (except, perhaps, when it comes time to make some very personal decisions). But the larger population of Pakistan, from which the Arts Council hopes to draw its visitors, would not recognize that description as being of their upbringing.
Be grateful it didn’t get turned into an ethnic issue. Trust me, that would have been far worse than anything you saw at the Arts Council.
I think it was particularly offensive of the artist to portray Benazir in the lap of the man who killed her father, barely a week after his death anniversary.
I agree with Kamila that artists should be free to exhibit (or write, or dance, or act) without fear of violence. The question in my mind is, what is art? Were the Danish cartoons art? Was the movie “Fitna” also art? How about the painting “Piss Christ”?
To me, art is more about beauty and the senses than political statements. I’d be hard-pressed to define it but I think I know it when I see or hear or read it. And I know when something is counterfeit, designed to evoke scandal and publicity rather than to engage the senses and the intellect, displayed to outrage and provoke rather than build bridges and stimulate discussion.
It brings me back to the slogan of the art festival – 17 crore people, one identity. I think art unifies us, moves our souls to acknowledge our similarities, not assert our differences. If the material created causes lives to be lost, then I have doubts it is actually art. That is gimmickry, not art.
@Kamila – Your comments are sensitive and sensible. It is true that the artist cannot be left unprotected, nor should she have to bear the brunt, alone, for the image displayed.
Some have found in it deeper meaning. I am not well-versed enough in art to have found anything like that. I disliked the image and even found it offensive at several levels, but I strongly support the artist’s right to create it.
On the other hand, as you say, collective responsibility means CAP & VASL &the Arts Council — who, I have reasons to suspect, were more responsible and complicit in the riot than we could glean at that chaotic time.
Unfortunately another debate that’s raging is whether or not Art (or anything, for that matter) should be censored. To my mind – and I am extremely against all forms of censorship and have been criticized heavily for it on many occasions – censoring is not the kind of word that should be used when one is merely asking for curatorial or editorial judgment. I doubt if nudes – however beautiful – would have passed muster in the eyes of the 3 main orgs involved just as I doubt that an anthology of excellent subcontinental expat prose published here would risk including Rushdie, whose command over the language is incomparable.
No, I am not asking people to cow down to nutcases – nor defending the rioters – but one chooses one’s battles carefully. Gandhiesque pacifism meant getting hit on the head with lathies and pelted with stones – as did WAF’s protests in Zia’s time. This is no longer that time. Guns emerge at the slightest provocation. Women and young girls who just happen to be around are whisked away from crowds by goondas. With such stakes there will have to be more judicious ways to set things right. We need to concentrate on that.
Of course if the organizations that put up this picture can come forward and say that they put it up on purpose as their response and challenge to the oppressiveness that fundos or political parties were spreading, I might look upon them with a renewed sense of awe. By saying that they ‘slipped’, however, it is they who are ‘selling out’ the artist!
@Kamila: I reiterate that the artist had every right to produce that piece of work and am in no way suggesting that she or VASL be held solely responsible. We stand in solidarity and will do whatever it takes to unequivocally protest the heavy handedness of the attackers. I feel that VASL needs to make a statement of some kind and share the responsibility; just as T2F would have done if a poet at the mushaera we were hosting had read something resulting in an armed attack.
People’s lives are under threat and an FIR has been registered. We need to all stand up and ensure that the future of CAP is not threatened. I will also go out of my way, in any capacity possible, to protect the artist. We must agitate for the FIR to be withdrawn and for internal action to be taken by the party against the goons with guns.
Sabeen, I must disagree with you. Whatever we may think of the art, it MUST be protected. Freedom of expression grants people the right to be stupid or out of touch. That should be the price of living in a democracy. We have to get used to being offended without resorting to violence.
The artist may certainly have been out of touch, but let’s not privilege the sentiments of the majority. That just leads to majoritarian thinking which will always (in Pakistan) privilege zealotry and misogyny. It’s simply too easy to whip up hysteria like this.
By not defending the artist’s right to MAKE ART, we are sending a chilling message to all artists to never again take a chance or question the status quo. The damage goes well beyond the Shanaakht festival being shut down.
And I must TOTALLY agree with your last comment: YES we have MULTIPLE identities! When will we in Pakistan learn to embrace them instead of being threatened by them? I didn’t go to the festival but from everything I have seen about it, this homogenizing aspect is quite disturbing.
Sabeen – thanks for the clarification. am, of course, in total agreement that just as the artist shouldn’t have to stand alone, nor should CAP. If there’s anything I can do at this distance, let me know.
Bina – re. your facebook comments – ‘what is art’ is a question for the ages, isn’t it? For my part, I accept that a lot of stuff that I view with distaste or indifference still falls under the definition of ‘art’, regardless of my response to it. And I really wish that we could have the luxury of debating what is and isn’t art here rather than having to find ourselves in a discussion about FIR’s being cut against the organisers of a festival!
Meanwhile, it really sounds as if the arts council needs to answer some tough questions. Sabeen, will rely on you via facebook to let me know if anything comes of that.
In art we use exaggeration to highlight an issue, we bold statements by bringing two contrasts together but the whole point of the whole practice is not to invoke rage, anger and break the very cultural bounds the people hold very dear to them selves.
Before making such an bold statement the artist (and the curator) must know who the audience are and what are their cultural values, will the statement impact people positively or will be to hard a blow for people Provoking out rage and anger, blinding the people from every logic.
If the artist fails to realize the cultural bounds and the emotional attachments of the people she is addressing, with the subject matter of her art work and that too in a festival which is celebrating Culture, history and the Identity of very people, she has no right to be a part of that show.
@Bina- It is unfair to limit art to bringing people together, promoting happiness, unity, world peace and what not. Artists can make and are entitled to make controversial political statements. In a lot of instances, artworks that pushed boundaries are the most enduring and best remembered.
I agree with the general sentiment expressed in this thread though. You do have to be smart about how you make statements in our infamously intolerant country. And Sabeen is right, we have to live for our causes, not die for them. But in some ways it is unfair to blame the curators and the artist alone. In my opinion the problem is more complex and less foreseeable than it seems in retrospect. I have seen art in galleries and exhibitions in Karachi that could easily have set off riots: a nude sculpture of a woman and a painting of a vagina are two off the top of my head. But those exhibitions went off without a glitch.
Of course the reason is that most art in Karachi is exhibited in a restricted public space where the tolerance for controversial statements is much greater than in the public at large. I wouldn’t be surprised if this has encouraged artists to take greater license with their work. Shanaakht however aimed to attract a larger more diverse crowd, with all the noble intentions of bringing art to the wider public. But perhaps that is where the roots of this clash lie: between art that has developed sheltered from the realities of the city and the effort to take it to a wider audience. I am not advocating for censorship or for restricting the audience. The problem is complicated and offers no simple solution. But I think it is a problem that the art community will have to negotiate in the aftermath of Shanaakht.
@Jamal – Despite my own dislike of the image, I would disagree with you about artists (or writers) having to hold back anything they wish to express, however offensive it may seem to me or to anyone else. Even to everyone else. Censorship of thought or expression has no justification in my book,
The issue, imo, is whether such works should or should not be displayed in public spaces. This decision is one of the responsibilities for editors, curators and exhibitors to make. They made (by their admission) the mistake of oversight – a not infrequent human failing. So let’s not go after them any more. And never after artists! Their rights are supreme!
In any case, as the situation becomes clearer, it does seem that other forces were at work and the image only provided some people the opportunity to fulfill their evil designs.
@Zak – I didn’t say that art should promote happiness or world peace. Some of the best art highlights unhappiness and war. What art does is to help us understand our humanity, the thing which links us all to each other, no matter what other differences we may have in religion, creed, gender, or race. There’s a blurry line between art and political protest, and when a piece of art sacrifices beauty for politics, that disappoints me personally.
@Zak: I am not against the artists right to express, she can say what even she pleases to, in her own show or in this case in a differently themed show.
Lets suppose If I write something in favor of consuming liquor and read it out-loud in a gathering of Taliban’s, and not just any other gathering but the one which is called to discuss a peaceful solution with them. I am sure to harm not only the peace process but also enrage the Taliban’s beyond control.
The artwork was just an ill timed statement, delivered to the wrong set of audience, it was only logical that it was to back fire.
I agree completely with Rameez and Kamila above. Personally I think CAP overdid the apology bit. Whatever I may think of the merits of the picture, that is not, and should not have been, made the focus of the issue. The issue was the hooliganism and the mode of expressing a reaction to the artwork. By repeatedly saying they would have taken it down had they been asked – or SHOULD have taken it down as others have been holding forth – the organizers are restricting the space for all other artistic dissent as well and encouraging all those who want to enforce their point of view. Tomorrow, someone else will find something offensive and use the same procedure for ensuring it is removed from public view. We already saw an indication of that in the press conference, where one journalist even objected to an image of a rupee not which had the Quaid’s picture replaced with a dollar sign.
Of course this is not the first time it has happened: the Jamaat has attacked Karachi University’s Visual Studies department simply because they think all such activity is against Islam and most people are too scared to even attempt any strong comment on MQM leaders in Sindh or the Taliban in NWFP etc. But that is precisely the point: bit by bit we continue to cede space. It was the inability to raise a voice earlier that has emboldened others.
Imo, yes, there are sensitivities involved and one should be very careful about what you exhibit (only for the reason that you don’t want to endanger the rest of a good initiative and that creative spaces need to be gradually expanded) but once a decision has been taken after due consideration, one should stand by it, not disown it. One should not forget that ‘art’ is inherently provocative if it is going to instigate debate and thinking.
I think pinning blame on VASL or the Arts Council or the artist is not going to serve the issue at hand. That should remain creating tolerance for dissent, even if that dissent is expressed in an odious manner.
@Bina – I didn’t make the comment about your statement. Shayan did.
[...] I expected the Pakistani blogosphere to universally condemn the hooligans of the reigning party who perpetuated this violence and stand with the artists’ right of self-expression. I certainly do. But, the Pakistani blogosphere seems to be universally condemning the unknown artist, instead. It is, they say, “akin to a political blasphemy” or “ridiculously meaningless” or “monumentally stupid“. [...]
[...] been initiated. Tags: Benazir Bhutto, Free Speech, Karachi, PPP Comment Meta: Leave a comment | Subscribe to the Comment Feed | Upload your Comment Image Some Related Posts: Open letter to Sindh Minister for Culture |Shanaakht FestivalThe image that led to the ransacking of the Shanakht FestivalCitizens Campaign to Reclaim KarachiInvestigative Pictures released by Gov of PakistanYoutube blocked in Pakistan [...]
[...] My earlier post on the Shanaakht mess has met with considerable criticism; which is absolutely fine – many valid points have been raised – but I am pained to be included in a group that one blogger writes about “… and it continues with tacit support of our so-called liberal intelligentsia”, because I commented strongly on the stupidity of the artwork. I have also been blown away by the inability of so-called educated people to read, analyze, and process. [...]
[...] I expected the Pakistani blogosphere to universally condemn the hooligans of the reigning party who perpetuated this violence and stand with the artists’ right of self-expression. I certainly do. But, the Pakistani blogosphere seems to be universally condemning the unknown artist, instead. It is, they say, “akin to a political blasphemy” or “ridiculously meaningless” or “monumentally stupid“. Their critiques of the artist and of the festival organizers, directly or indirectly, condone the violence that shut down the festival. [...]
I just want to repeat what Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto said in his speech to the Security Council which was this: “You want to silence our voices by arms?” this clearly represents him as an icon against Violence. I believe, all the people who are scared or apologetic are sub-conciously supporting the same violence we are against. We are not progressive at all. Whether we are artists or socialites, we are all conservative, backward and primitive and shall remain so if we still don’t allow a different perspective to be published or presented to the public. We shall remain uneducated and uncivil and America shall bomb us to the middle ages.
PS:I was there! I was scared, and I ran for my life but i still support freedom of artistic expression and I am strongly against legallisation of aggression!
We have to understand that we are on our own. We weren’t a few years ago. We are now.
We cannot rely on the our boorish democrats or the broader bureaucratic and military infrastructure. We cannot rely on the courts. And the media may or may not empathize with us. They have their own problems, their own demographic. We only have each other.
Although the incident at the festival may have been more a lapse of judgment than a principled stand, it is ultimately our responsibility, our duty, to take on the retrograde forces unleashed in this state head on. We are in the midst of an existential calamity of epic proportions.
VASL is a stellar organization. It is our duty to support them.