The #MeToo Movement in the Indian Art Community

The year sees the second wave of #MeToo testimonies in India, with several artists coming under scrutiny for inappropriate sexual advances, harassment and intimidation. Foreshadowing the large volume of complaints that pour in was the 2017 protest by the artist Pyaari Azaadi (formerly known as Jaishri Abichandani) at the Met Breuer in New York, where she alleged assault by the late photographer Raghubir Singh. The following year, allegations also emerge against photographer Pablo Bartholomew and artist-designer Shahid Datawala.

A significant number of cases then begin to appear on the anonymous Instagram account ‘Scene and Herd’ (@herdsceneand), many of which lead to inquiries and investigations by institutions the alleged assaulters are associated with. Among the accused are Jatin Das, Valsan Koorma Kolleri, Riyas Komu, Subodh Gupta and Sumesh Sharma. The anonymity becomes a point of contention, receiving backlash from senior artists and administrators. 

Art institutions handle the allegations in different ways, depending on their relationship with the accused party and the positions they occupy in the respective organisations. Artists such as Gupta and Komu resign from their roles at Khoj International Artists Association and the Kochi Biennale Foundation respectively. Sharma ends his association with the studio and exhibition space Clark House Initiative in Mumbai. Exhibitions of the accused, such as  Bartholomew’s photographs at Photo Kathmandu and Datawala’s solo show Datura at TARQ in Mumbai are closed down, and invitations to events are withdrawn. 

Given the unorganised and informal nature of labour in the professional Indian art world, it is also argued by many commentators that there are no real avenues for survivors to complain and seek redressal from, and that the wave of #MeToo allegations needs to be seen as a consequence of the inequitable scales of hierarchy extant in the sphere.