'It's an outright move to silence #MeToo survivors'

On October 2 artists scholars and arts professionals from across the world came together to support a statement condemning a civil defamation suit filed by leading Indian artist Subodh Gupta against Instagram account herdsceneandThe statement which started with 38 signatories and has now crossed 250 states that the suit is an outright move to silence the survivors and gag the platform that gave them a voice while protecting their identities The statement comes in the wake of the Delhi High Courts order to Facebook the company that owns Instagram to reveal the identity of the administrators of herdsceneand which posted anonymous allegations of sexual misconduct against Gupta in December 2018 The Delhi High Court has also ordered Facebook and Google to take down web pages that carry content related to the anonymous allegationsNayanTara Gurung Kakshapati a Kathmandubased photographer and curator says she signed the statement because she found Guptas defamation suit a gross abuse of power and money The statement reiterates the need for art institutions to strengthen their policies and redressal systems for sexual harassment Arts establishments in India are often managed by small teams with little scope for an Internal Complaints Committee However since the MeToo movement in the Indian art community last year a few institutions have taken this matter more seriously We need to find ways to create safe spaces and platforms for survivors to come together to share their truths and call for accountability Kakshapati saidMeToos naming and shaming has often been accompanied by a criticism of cancel culture Gupta has also sought Rs 5 cr as token damages from herdsceneand According to a report in The Times of India advocate Neoma Vasdev who filed the plea for Gupta stated that the artist has not been able to sell even a single piece of art since the defamatory baseless posts were made public Gupta resigned as cocurator from Serendipity Arts Festival in 2018 following the allegations but he was part of a group show at Palette Art Gallery Delhi in September this year to celebrate 20 years of the galleryFurthermore it appears that the Gupta brand value post MeToo has barely taken a hit His works which have traditionally sold for some of the highest sums commanded by contemporary Indian artists have continued to do so this year At a sale by auction house Saffronart in March 2019 Guptas Gober Ganesh sold for Rs 8625 lakh at a sale by auction house Christies in New York in September 2019 Idol Thief I sold for USD87500 more than Rs 62 lakh It will also be difficult to ascertain the sales made directly between artist and collector given the informal nature of these transactionsNishant Shah VicePresident Research at ArtEZ University of the Arts The Netherlands has come in support of the statement which appeals for the anonymity of herdsceneand to be protected Shah an expert on gender sexuality race and digital technologies said A survivors identity is their own prerogative herdsceneand is a collective of survivors and to out one will be out all to identify one will be to identify all he said adding The suit is not just a gag on what can be said in the future but its scrubbing clean the past and asking history to be revisedHe noted that by filing this suit Gupta has put into motion the Streisand Effect drawing more attention to the allegations through his attempt to curb them He will now be known as an artist who tried to stifle the voices of young women who fought for their rights Some have also come in support of Guptas right to defend himself from these anonymous allegations and that he has the right to seek to clear his name However Vidyun Sabhaney a Delhibased writer artist and editor of graphic narratives also a signatory of the statement said To file a defamation suit that also seeks to forcibly reveal the identity of ones accusers and extract huge damages is not the equivalent of defending ones self Rather it seems like punishment and proves why survivors chose to remain anonymous especially when the accused is powerfulShah believes that when it comes to digital correspondences there are no oneonone exchanges but a stream of voices Digitally speaking you can make a million copies by screenshots resharing or archiving The digital is made of proliferation and thats the strength that survivors rely on So to hold only the administrators of an anonymous account as responsible for defamation is not possible he said midday reached out to Subodh Gupta on Whatsapp and email but he did not respond until the time of going to pressCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates