If the Labour department’s findings are anything to go by, it was a group of headload workers of the Swathanthra Thozhilali Union (STU) — an affiliate of the Indian Union Muslim League which is part of the ruling front in Kerala — accompanied by over a dozen locals with no authorisation to do loading-unloading work that had ostensibly demanded exorbitant wages from an international artist for moving art works.
There was widespread resentment and uproar after Udaipur-based American artist Waswo X Waswo uploaded on YouTube a clipping which showed the livid artist discarding parts of a work exhibited in a group show held at Mattancherry alongside the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) that ended on March 29. On Tuesday, the district labour officer, who took cognizance of media reports of the incident, revoked for a month’s time identity cards issued to seven headload workers of Mattancherry for their alleged involvement in the row. Police action was recommended against 15 other unauthorised persons.
“Following inquiries, we zeroed in on 22 people, seven with valid I-cards and the rest in no way connected to the labour, for demanding wages several times over the stipulated rates from the artist. Action has been initiated against the seven, affiliated to STU, while the rest would have to be booked by the police for extortion,” a senior official of the Labour department told The Hindu .
The Mattancherry police, which received communication in this regard from the DLO’s office, would now seek the advice of the City Police Commissioner.
“That there was no complaint from the artist is a setback, but we will record the statement of his aide, Tanzeer, and proceed further based on the instructions of the Commissioner,” said C.P. Lohithakshan, sub-inspector of police, Mattancherry.
Gopakumar, DLO, said existing norms prevented people without authorisation from doing loading an unloading work. “To top it up, they are said to have demanded unreasonable wages. It’s a crime and the police are to initiate action against them,” he said. Mr. Waswo, away in Bangkok, was unavailable for comment. Geeta Mehra, director of the Sakshi Art Gallery in Mumbai which originally organised the group show titled, ‘Sleeping Through the Museum’ last year, said the Biennale collateral was held at the initiative of Mr. Waswo, who had twice exhibited at Kashi Art Gallery in Fort Kochi previously.
While major trade unions CITU and INTUC, the union with which the KMB authorities had a loading-unloading contract, had distanced themselves from the unsavoury incident, senior CPI(M) leader and PB member M.A. Baby had tendered an apology to the artist.
Artist Bose Krishnamachari, president of the Kochi Biennale Foundation, said KMB had nothing to do with collateral shows. “Besides giving them a mention on our website, there was no financial, curatorial or physical link between collateral shows and the curated show of the Biennale,” he said.
