Kunal Kamra row: As Habitat Studio shuts, a look at similar past attacks

Mumbai's Habitat Studio shut after vandalism by Shiv Sena workers allegedly over a joke on Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde. Here's a look at other past attacks involving art shows and exhibitions

Mumbai’s Habitat Studio, a hub for standup comedy, has decided to shut down indefinitely after a mob, allegedly of Shiv Sena workers, stormed the venue and vandalised property to protest against comedian Kunal Kamra’s jokes about Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

 

Located in Mumbai’s Khar area, Habitat Studio announced its closure on March 24 in a statement, citing concerns over safety. “We are shocked, worried and extremely broken by the recent acts of vandalism targeting us. Artists are solely responsible for their views and creative choices. We have never been involved in the content performed by any artist, but the recent events have made us rethink about how we get blamed and targeted every time, almost like we are a proxy for the performer,” the venue said on Instagram.

 

 

Videos from the night show men storming the studio, smashing chairs into cameras, lights, and sound equipment.

 

This is not the first time that an artist has faced violent reactions to their work. There have been several incidents in the past of hostility against performers, painters, and writers, with protests against MF Husain’s work serving as one of the most notable examples.

 

MF Husain remained a repeated target of vandalism

 

Maqbool Fida Husain, one of India’s most celebrated painters, found himself at the centre of right-wing outrage multiple times. In 1996, Bajrang Dal activists stormed the Herwitz Gallery in Ahmedabad’s Husain-Doshi Gufa, armed with tridents and wearing saffron scarves. They vandalised 23 tapestries and 28 paintings, including Husain’s depictions of Hanuman, the Last Supper, and his acclaimed Madhuri Dixit series.

 

Two years later, in May 1998, Bajrang Dal activists forced their way into Husain’s South Mumbai home, ransacking the premises over a painting they believed showed Sita sitting on Hanuman’s tail in the nude. The work had no title or caption, leaving room for interpretation.

 

A decade later, in 2008, over a dozen men stormed an art exhibition at the Constitution Club in Delhi, destroying seven of Husain’s paintings. The show had been organised by the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) to protest against Husain’s exclusion from the India Art Summit at Pragati Maidan. By then, Husain had been driven into exile, where he would remain until his death in 2011.

 

Is vandalism over ‘offensive’ new to India?

 

Husain was not the only artist to face the wrath of mobs. In 2004, Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists vandalised the Garden Gallery in Surat after assuming an artwork on display, which they found offensive, was Husain’s. The painting, in fact, was by Kolkata-based Chittrovanu Mazumdar.

 

In 2013, an art gallery in Ahmedabad displaying works by Pakistani artists at Amdavad-ni-Gufa — cofounded by Husain and architect B V Doshi — was ransacked, allegedly by VHP activists, paintings were torn and furniture destroyed.

 

Even in 2016, the Jaipur Art Summit found itself targeted for a third consecutive year. This time, members of the Lal Sena Sangathan and Rashtriya Ekta Manch stormed the venue, protesting against a semi-nude painting by London-based artist Radha Binod Sharma, originally from Tripura.

 

The pattern extends beyond paintings and comedy shows. Statues of political leaders, Mughal emperors, and other historical figures have repeatedly been defaced or demolished. Whether it is a comedian on stage or an artist on canvas, those challenging prevailing narratives have repeatedly found themselves at the receiving end of violent outrage. And the consequences of these have often been permanent — from venues being shut down, to paintings being destroyed, and in Husain’s case an artist being driven into exile.