Artist's Artwork On Khajuraho Is A Witty Comment On Censorship | HuffPost

This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.

Artist's 'Censored' Khajuraho Drawings Let You Peek Underneath

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Former Lifestyle editor, HuffPost India

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Akshita Chandra

Visual artist Akshita Chandra is a student at the Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology in Bengaluru. In her seventh semester at the institute, she had to submit a project based on any historical event.

Chandra wanted to do something that went beyond the purely historical. As she explained to HuffPost India, “I wanted to make it relevant, drawing parallels from a historic context, and find its relevance in our contemporary world.”

One issue that had been on Chandra's mind for sometime was that of moral policing.

“I remember reading about how in 1979, F.N. Souza’s hand-written manuscript of his autobiography and 62 drawings he had sent from the United States to India were held at the customs for being too obscene. Furious, Souza had questioned whether the 'ignorant official' would still be confiscating the illustrations if they were line drawings from the Khajuraho temples," she said. "Having visited the temples myself, this rang true to what I wanted to explore through the project – What really is obscene?”

Chandra's creative response was to draw some of Khajuraho's famous erotic sculptures on paper, but with a twist. As she explains, she got working on “censoring them dynamically, so that the viewer could help censor what was underneath.” She also incorporated elements that referred to contemporary instances of moral policing and censorship in India.

Thanks to Chandra's 'dynamic drawings' and deft paperwork, the viewer gets to play the role of the censor but can also take a peek underneath to see what is being censored. The project took her four months to complete and she very appropriately titled it ‘Being Censitive’.

Her creative comment on the contemporary culture of censorship and moral policing went viral after she posted it on Tumblr. Here are the situations that inspired her sketches:

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Age: 28
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When I came out to my mother, her first reaction was a long silence. After that she turned towards me and said to me loudly, "Don't you dare talk rubbish with me. Do you even know what you just said? I haven't given birth to something like this. You better curb yourself down before spitting venom."

Almost immediately she rushed into the bedroom and shut the door with a loud bang. It has been over five years now and whenever I try speaking to her about it, she thinks it's just a phase and that I'll be 'normal' soon. Even now, she hopes for the day when she can give away her old saris and jewellery to her 'daughter-in-law' and I wonder, would I ever find a partner who'd accept these as my mother's blessings. I hope my mother will eventually accept me for who I am, and tell me, "I am proud of you and I will always love you because you're my son." (credit:Kartik Sharma)

Mili Sethia(02 of21)

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I came out to denial. I got my mother a bit drunk first, and then after hearing me out, she (perhaps kindly) said, "Honey, I hope it's just a phase you are going through".

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Rōmal Lāisram(03 of21)

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I didn't need to come out to my siblings or most of my friends, but with my mom, it involved a heated argument. Suddenly, the secret was out. It was then a process. I needed to understand her as much as she needed to understand me.

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Vinay Aarote(04 of21)

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Lavanya Narayan(05 of21)

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18 months of solitude. Disillusioned by education. Hours dwelt in painful introspection.
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Navin Noronha(07 of21)

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Aditya Joshi(09 of21)

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Subhojit Hazra(18 of21)

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Sachin Upot(20 of21)

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-- This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.

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