New Delhi, Oct 21 Artist and photographer Raihan Vadra, the son of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Robert Vadra, on Wednesday said the Bikaner House administration had pulled down many of his pictures of the recent protests ahead of a solo exhibition.
The show, titled “No Idea is Final”, was previewed on Wednesday and opens on Thursday.
“They told us at 3.30 pm today if the images are not taken down by 5 pm, the show will be cancelled. They said it is not the right time for such photos to be shown,” Raihan told PTI.
He added that Bikaner House also took down an image of the tiranga which he put back again.
“The subjects of the artworks were wildlife photography, abstract works and street photography of the recent youth movements in India. Yesterday at 6 pm I was contacted by the management of Bikaner House, raising objections towards the ‘political nature’ of the protest images and was requested to remove them,” Raihan added in a statement made available to PTI.
“I made it clear that in view of the fact that I had shared the detailed proposal and layout of the show well in advance with the Bikaner house management it was incorrect on their part to request the removal of 50% of the artworks less than 24 hours before the opening of the show,” he said.
On Wednesday, Bikaner House, a cultural venue in the heart of the city, went ahead and took down some of the pictures.
The Bikaner House administration was not immediately available for comment.
The exhibition, which continues till Sunday, goes on as scheduled. While about 40 pictures are still on display, more than 70 have been pulled down.
(PTI News)
