NGMA committees were not dissolved, clarifies director after Palekar's allegation

Two days after Amol Palekar had allegedly criticised the Ministry of Culture for scrapping the local artists' advisory committees at the gallery's centres in Mumbai and Bengaluru National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) Director General, Adwaita Gadanayak clarified that the committees have not been dissolved but their terms have ended recently.

Speaking to ANI, Gadanayak said, "The Advisory Committees of NGMA Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi have not been dissolved. Their terms have ended recently. The committees are in the process of being reconstituted. The recommendations of previous Advisory Committees (which are upto December 2019 for NGMA, Mumbai) will be honoured and exhibitions of artists will happen as proposed. The new advisory committee will take a decision relating to future exhibitions."

Palekar had on Friday attended 'Inside the Empty Box', an exhibition held in honour of renowned artist Prabhakar Barwe. While addressing the gathering, he had allegedly criticised the Ministry of Culture for scrapping the local artists' advisory committees at the gallery's centres in Mumbai and Bengaluru.

This was interrupted by members present at the event, including artist and former chairman of the advisory committee in Mumbai, Suhas Bahulkar and show curator Jesal Thacker, who asked him to keep his discussion limited to the artist and the exhibition. This, Palekar said, was a form of censorship.

A video of the incident has also surfaced on social media.