Bharatmata (painting)
Artist: Maqbool Fida Husain (17 September 1915 – 9 June 2011)
Year: 2006
Date of Action: 2006
Region: Asia
Location: Mumbai, India
Subject: Explicit Sexuality, Religion
Medium: Painting
Confronting Bodies: Protestors in India
Description of Artwork: Bharatmata is a painting of a nude goddess bent into the shape of a map of India.
The Incident: In the case of the 91-year-old M. F. Husain, the protests have been both constitutional and anarchic. His paintings have been slashed and burned and spray-painted, his films banned in Gujarat, and until recently there were obscenity cases against him in courts across the country.
Although some find nothing controversial about his works, his becoming a target can be attributed to him being Muslim.
Results of Incident: Husain continues to be protested, as there is no means of countering the attacks. He went into exile in London and died there, even though the Indian government assured him security if he would return.
Source:
MF Hussain apologises for obscene paintings, Times of India, Feb 7, 2006, 11:09 PM IST