Painter Jatin Das had a couple of unexpected visitors to his exhibition Body & Line at the Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai.
These visitors were two policemen who "assessed" the 101 figurative art works, several of them nudes. They had something to say too. No, they did not quite appreciate art. They wanted Das to put up a notice barring those under 18 from entering, to avoid trouble.
Joint police commissioner KL Prasad said it was just a suggestion, says Hindustan Times.
The painter, actress Nandita Das’ father, decided to play it safe and has put up a notice with the words, “Not Under 18”. This is the artist’s first solo exhibition in the city in 11 years. “When I was living in Bombay it was a cosmopolitan city,” said Das, who moved to Delhi four decades ago. “I don’t know how and when it transformed into a parochial village.”
Das is the latest artist to attract the moral police. Last year, the same gallery asked a student to cover sensitive parts of his nude sculpture on display.
Well, Jatin babu, times have changed in Mumbai too.
