Bharatmata (painting)

Bharatmata2.jpg

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

M.F. Husain (Wikipedia)