A day after two artists were manhandled by the police here over the installation of an art work that showed a plastic cow tied suspended via a balloon, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, on Sunday, expressed regret over the incident and stated that the police officer responsible for the incident had been removed.
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In an effort to draw attention to the plight of abandoned animals who end up scavenging, eating plastic and choking to death- Baroda-based artist Siddharth Karwal had conceptualized this art installation.
But the police said they had received many calls, not from any particular group, that the depiction of the dying cow was not “looking arty” but was “hurting the sentiments of people who worship cows”. He added that the installation meant to show “how cows consume plastic and die due to its consumption”. The artists were even taken to the police station and interrogated over the “The Bovine Divine” installation at the Jaipur Art Summit.
According to Scroll.in the police asked the artists why they were flying a dead cow. “The Police Commissioner has extended his apology”.
On getting the information police reached the spot, detained Anish Ahluwalia and Chintan Upadhyay from the Sandarbh global Artist Residency for three hours at the Bajaj Nagar police station. She said on Twitter: “I am saddened by the incident that took place at JKK yesterday”. When we explained that the cow is not dead, we were asked if it was alive, we tried to explain that it was Styrofoam plastic sculpture but were pretty much unsuccessful.
The police is investigating the matter, however, no case has been registered so far. The row gained momentum when a plastic cow dummy was noticed hung high during the art summit in Jaipur. “The way the cow was hanging in the air”, frowned Bajaj Nagar Police Station SHO Mahendra Gupta, “it was only sending a negative message”.
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The summit which is hosting artistes from 12 countries, where about 260 works are to be displayed over the course of five days is no stranger to controversy. “The only thing we want is that the thought it wants to portray should be explained properly, so that people understand its real objective and don’t take it in a wrong way”, he said.
