'Removed posters while on call with Academy head': Hochimin on vandalising French artist's works

Kochi: Artist P H Hochimin on Wednesday vandalised an art exhibition titled 'Estranged Geographies' featuring works by the Algerian-French artist Hanan Benammar at the Durbar Hall Art Gallery in Kochi. The incident occurred around 7 pm. Speaking to Onmanorama, Hochimin said the exhibition, which began on October 18, came to his notice when he went to help a friend install his artwork.

“I removed a total of seven posters titled 'Go eat your dad' from the wall. I did not tear it. I also did it while on a call with the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi chairman, after informing him of my intention. The exhibition, which cost around ₹16 lakh, is a conversation between the artist and her lover. Including the title and all seven prints, the entire content of the work is written in obscene Malayalam. It is also misogynistic in nature. I respect the artist, and yes, artistic freedom exists, but merely writing obscenity in the name of art is wrong. This is not part of Kerala’s cultural system and aligns with fascist tendencies,” he said.

According to the description accompanying Hanan's art, the work was meant to show racist, nationalist, and xenophobic comments she received from far-right groups in Norway, both online and in person. A warning for explicit content is placed right at the entry.   Taking to social media, Hanan reshared a post on her Instagram story that said, "The offended got outraged. Big win for the artist." 

“The academy chairman informed me that a case will be filed against me by both the academy and the artist,” Hochimin said “Since the incident, the academy has also put up a poster stating that they are not responsible for any of the artist’s work and that it reflects the artist’s individual liberty.”

The exhibition, curated by Anushka Rajendran and Damian Christinger, was supposed to run until November 15.