00:00So this young artist is from a prestigious political family.
00:04He's the son of Priyanka Gandhi Wajra and Robert Wajra.
00:07And he said that as a young artist I was going to exhibit some of my artwork
00:12but was asked to remove it because it had Delhi protests.
00:16Rehan Wajra speaking to India today over the exhibition controversy
00:18and saying the removal of the artwork is political bias.
00:21This happened at Beacon Airhouse.
00:23And that he was even asked to remove the photograph of the tricolor
00:26that he's not going to do.
00:27And he would rather take all the artwork and exhibit it somewhere else.
00:31And the objections happened.
00:32Belly hours to go before the show opened.
00:35Now there's not been a statement yet from the Beacon Airhouse
00:38but Priyanka Gandhi Wajra, the mother of Rehan,
00:41has spoken up saying she's extremely proud of him.
00:43And the ones who are in power need to realise that they're losing it.
00:47Let's listen in first to this exclusive conversation that Rehan has had
00:51with my colleague Rahul Gautam
00:53and what the Congress is saying about it.
01:05As an individual artist, as an upcoming photographer,
01:08how do you view this as an artist, you know, artistic point of view,
01:12you know, removing 70 to 80 percent of your collection
01:15which you're saying you've worked for almost three years?
01:18I feel, you know, it's basically, I was quite surprised.
01:22You know, I think any type of curtailing of art is wrong.
01:26I would understand if there's a, if, you know,
01:29if there is something that's a little too overtly political,
01:32that, you know, there are slogans being put
01:34or that, you know, there's graphic nudity in some artworks,
01:38that is understandable.
01:42But, you know, just blanket removing 75 photos
01:47because they may be objectionable to somebody does not work,
01:50you know, and it's wrong.
01:52Then you can't call yourself a cultural institution
01:55or you can't call yourself a stakeholder in the arts
01:58if you're going to curtail freedom of expression.
02:00Is it going to describe, you know,
02:02what really happened last afternoon?
02:05So, actually, my exhibition was,
02:09I was holding an exhibition for the first time
02:11after two, three years.
02:14And it wasn't just about the protests,
02:16but it was a, it was a exhibition of my body of works
02:20over the last, taken over the last three works,
02:23three years.
02:24The head of, who runs Beaconhead House,
02:27he came, the principal resident commissioner,
02:30and he gave me an explanation that because of the context
02:34and the timing of what is happening in India and in Delhi,
02:40that makes these works political in nature
02:42and therefore they're against the policy.
02:45So, I tried to argue that how can timing
02:50or outside context make artwork political
02:53and that's not in their policy.
02:54But anyways, they did not listen
02:58and I got a notice at around 3.30 p.m.
03:01saying that if you don't remove the artworks,
03:0374 artworks by 4 p.m.,
03:06you will have to,
03:07we will have to cancel the exhibition
03:09and seal the building.
03:10You are wanting me to take down
03:12a picture of the Indian flag.
03:14They never gave that to me in writing.
03:16They left one photo up.
03:17I went home to change for the opening.
03:21As soon as I left the premises,
03:22they went in and took it down
03:24and I have a video of them taking down
03:26that picture.
03:30Yeah, so that was the...
03:32And then, you know, we left the walls.
03:35And what is the way forward now?
03:37Has it been taken completely down?
03:39You're going to continue with it?
03:41You're going to look for any video?
03:43So, obviously, I had two flaws
03:45in the exhibition.
03:47And, you know, me and my team
03:48had worked quite hard
03:49to put it together.
03:51So I obviously didn't want to
03:53go down the route
03:55where they would cancel the entire show
03:56and we'd end up with showing nothing.
03:58So the two rooms that had
04:04allegedly objectionable images,
04:07those we have taken down.
04:09And the rest of the exhibition
04:11is continuing till Sunday.
04:12And those images I'm finding,
04:14I'm trying to find a place
04:16in Delhi where I can exhibit them.
04:18This exhibition, anyways,
04:20travels to Bangalore in December.
04:22So they'll be on view there.
04:24But I'm trying to find a place in Delhi
04:26that I can exhibit them
04:27in the next month or so.
04:29We're also awaiting a reaction
04:31and a statement from the Bikan Airhouse.
04:33And here's what Rehan Meanwhile is saying.
04:35He will not take down
04:37the Indian flag picture
04:38that I've clicked
04:39because there is nothing
04:40objectionable about it.
04:41He also maintained
04:42that none of his artwork,
04:43none of these photographs,
04:45contained derogatory
04:46or informatory content.
04:48Photographs were simply
04:49visual documentation.
04:5150% of the artwork
04:52was asked to be removed,
04:53primarily because it reflected
04:54certain parts of the protests.
04:56Ultimatum came just
04:57four and a half hours
04:59before the show was set to open.
05:01Now, according to him,
05:02the proposal was approved already,
05:04months in advance
05:05and have refused to remove
05:08the Tiranga photographs
05:09and then defiantly he maintains
05:11will display entire collection
05:13at another venue.
05:15Remember, Bikan Airhouse
05:16is an extremely
05:17and a prestigious popular place
05:19where a lot of these events,
05:20exhibitions and artwork
05:22that are exhibited,
05:23conclaves are organized as well.
05:24So what happened this time
05:25that led to this controversy?
