‘Nudity’ at the Museum Expo or in the mind?

It has been over a decade since the ‘Nudity Special’ issue of ‘Chinha’ magazine was published in 2012. With the fast-paced technological and societal changes, it is said that the generation changes every four years. It’s 2023 now, and it’s been over ten years, which is a long time. However, it appears that our society is still hypocritical about nudity. It is said that the rulers / politicians are a reflection of the society. Since our society is hypocritical, so will be its leaders, right?

The point of concern here is the recently unveiled mascot at the International Museum Expo 2023 at Delhi and so we thought we should bring up the topic of ‘Nudity’ once again on Chinha’s platform. We all know, the current government is in awe of our rich history and culture. In the first few years of this government, things were running smoothly but of late the government went astray and the expo became a laughing stock. The height of this can be seen at the recent expo. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the International Museum Expo (IME) 2023 at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi on Thursday. On this occasion, he also unveiled the Expo’s mascot. The new mascot is inspired by the National Museum’s logo which is a bronze statue of a ‘Dancing Girl’ from the Indus-Saraswati Civilization. The mascot of the International Museum Expo is a contemporary stylized version of a dancing girl made of wood in the Chennapatnam art style.

The practice of creating mascots for any event is a well-established one. But the present mascot seems to suggest something terrible about the direction in which this love for culture is going. It has clearly gone astray. The difference between the original ‘dancing girl’ of Mohenjodaro and the dancing girl created as mascot for IME 23 is suggestive of many things. Thoughtful and prudent art lovers will be disturbed by these changes. And if this doesn’t bother you, then it is certain that our art and culture is on the brink of a disaster.

Here I list some of the questions that came to my mind after seeing this mascot. I pose these questions as a lover of art, history and culture.

1. What exactly does the government want to cover by dressing up the original nude Mohenjodaro dancing girl? Why was this mascot given an attractive name of ‘contemporary look’ when thousands of sculptures in countless temples, historical heritage sites in India are nude? Or is the government intending to gradually dress up the countless sculptures across the country? Since when did the government start singing the Victorian tune of treating nudity as obscene and bringing the thought into the mainstream?

2. Why does this dancing girl from Mohenjodaro look like she has used a fair and lovely cream?What does her changed skin tone suggest under the ‘attractive’ name of contemporary look?Why has this contemporary mascot of the dancing girl become the brand ambassador of Fair and Lovely when so many women in India are suffering from the inferiority complex of being dark skinned?One can understand for once that a government ‘Babu’ could be ignorant of art and its significance, but what about the artist who designed this mascot? Was the artist so ignorant so as to not understand its symbolic and geographical significance?

3. The original ‘Dancing Girl’ stands just over four and a half inches tall. Although its physical height is less, it is a surviving example of the high philosophical stature of the 4000 years old Indus Saraswati civilization. Firm, upright, with one hand on her waist and a slightly raised chin looking out at the world, this unadorned woman represents the look of a fearless woman of that time. Why does today’s 6-foot (much taller) contemporary dancing girl mascot look like she as if she is not confident? Or have we lost faith in our true and magnificent culture? According to the current wave of rewriting history, are the historical artefacts going to be displayed in a new ugly form?

4. The government is currently rewriting glorious history and culture of India- to highlight the fierce resistance by the local leaders and people to the invaders – by changing the textbooks in an attempt to conserve the history and culture. But when it comes to culture, is there a deliberate attempt to create such a corrupt mascot so that women always remain covered and submit to the norms of a male-dominated society?

Finally, I will conclude that women were more independent in primitive times, but as time progressed, technology became more modern but the mentality of the society is still not ready to come out of the chaos of medieval mindset.

(All photographs are sourced from internet)

– Kanak Waikar

Chinha Art News

The Mohenjodaro Dancing Girl and the new mascot are being widely debated upon across the internet.

Link to the article in The Wire which presents the article on this issue is given below.

https://thewire.in/the-arts/mohenjodaro-dancing-girl-museum-mascot