A group of students sat in a corner of the M. F. Husain Art Gallery at Jamia Millia Islamia with a chart paper spread out in front of them. A small rough sketch of the celebrated artist lay near the chart paper.
“I am planning to make 95 such sketches of Mr. Husain on the occasion of his 95th birthday,” said Master of Fine Arts student Azim Hassan, a participant in a painting event celebrations for the artist organised on the occasion by SAHMAT and Jamia Faculty of Fine Arts here on Friday.
Azim, who was making the sketches with the help of his friends, said he was also making another painting depicting the impact of Mr. Husain's leaving the country on various art forms. “Much like the unravelling of a string of beads if one bead falls out, art forms in our country too have been affected owing to Mr. Husain's leaving India,” said Azim.
Sarfaraz Haq, also a Fine Arts student at Jamia, said: “My painting will try to investigate the concept of “vulgarity” which Mr. Husain was often accused of by communities through his depiction of nude Indian goddesses. My painting will question what really constitutes vulgarity. Why is the government not making efforts to call back Mr. Husain.”
Speaking about the event, Ram Rahman of SAHMAT explained that celebrating the artist's birthday was a way of indicating that the “artist community has not forgotten him and is in solidarity with him against the campaigns accusing him of blasphemy.”
As part of the celebrations, Mr. Rahman said ten short films made by Mr. Husain in the 1960s which had been rarely viewed were being showcased. Further, actors, artists and writers would read from his autobiography Husain Ki Kahani, Apni Jabani .
One of the main highlights was the “all-day photo booth” featuring a shawl-draped cut-out of the painter with which visitors could get their pictures clicked. The photos will be presented to him on September 22 when the Doha-based Museum of Islamic Art inaugurates a two-day event in his honour.
