Week 3- Censorship of Art: A Step Backward?
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Art is the very media where we can express, interact, and retaliate or probably it is a mode of any kind of thought transfer. Evolution has made us capable enough to discern things and act with all possible might. Today, we see our fellow-men suffering but we find zipping our mouths better than raising our voice. There are a few handfuls that listen to their heart and speak through their soul through the channels of unfathomable creativity. Yes, those are the exceptions, exceptions to the regularities but the majority always win, don’t they? And the result is that they are denied and forced to lose their unwavering thoughts. This is where I say that ‘art has been censored’ and this indeed is a backward step as loyalty, freedom, truthfulness and honesty have been oozed out and are dried by brittle, bitter and brutal faces of selfishness.
-Priya Girijan
FE, SIES Graduate School of Technology
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Art is the personification of how diverse and creative the human mind is. Art has a plethora of forms of existence. Be it music, be it literature, be it fiction or be it a sport, art finds its way into the hearts of many. I feel though, that in spite of this magnanimous position of art in modern society, there is a barrier, a major one, to be frank enough.
Yes, censorship it is! I feel that if the society would just settle down a little and not tend to be so judgemental there may be a little more love and acceptance in the world. When an artist's work is banned or censored, there certainly has been a brutal disservice done upon him. Art needs to be viewed as art and not as some sort of subversive or pornographic display. Having a broad and open mind seems to be the very singular solution to this tender issue. A pipe dream? Maybe, but it has to begin somewhere!
-Shrinath Rao
FE, SIES Graduate School of Technology
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The true meaning of art lies in the story it betells the observer, the way a piece of art communicates and penetrates into our minds is but an astonishing phenomenon itself. It conveys more than what a thousand words can convey put together.
To put a lid on such abstract creativeness is but a disgrace to humankind itself. Granted there are many an obscure form of art, but does that make it any less of an art form? Why should a little group of people frowning upon something make us stop expressing ourselves altogether? Have we all become that sensitive to criticism?
We all have been taught to express ourselves, come what may, and if it does create a controversy, should we all just be shunned and banned?
Censoring art is just like asking an Iraqi or any Muslim women, for that matter, to compulsorily put on a niqab.
-Haripriya Iyer
Editor-in-chief, Scintilla
FE, SIES Graduate School of Technology
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Art is an automatic representation of thoughts, the spontaneous expression of one's feelings through painting; dance, music, writing etc are forms of art. Art is censored by some forces before it reaches the public. If they find it unsuitable, they prevent it from reaching the public. In the eyes of the government, it is right but has anyone viewed it from the eyes of the artist who is trying express his thoughts?
The artist sees this as an insult to him. He says to himself, "Why can I not express myself? Why am I being stopped?" This is what every censored artist would think. Art is not what you see, it is what you experience. It’s not what you share, it is what you express, and if free flow of expressions and thoughts is stopped, it is definitely a step backward. What often happens is, art finds its way to the wrong audience. This is the main reason for its censorship. If art reaches the right people, there would an opposition to censorship, a force that opposes its censorship. I am hoping for a day when censorship ceases to wipe out art and artists
-Sriram Srinivasan
FE, SIES Graduate School of Technology
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-Sriram Srinivasan
FE, SIES Graduate School of Technology
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A gush of emotions vented out on a white canvas, pent up emotions poured out on the pages of a blank notebook. Art is created by emotions. Emotion, a powerful tool possessed by mankind. So powerful that it can make or break the whole shebang. Art, a way of expression, is a way of showing mankind’s supremacy. It evokes man’s thoughts, emotions, beliefs and ideas through it. Censorship of art might be a step backward as how can anyone restrict the outflow of man’s thoughts and views.
But art outside the boundaries of probity, one which hurts sentiments, destroys innocence, foments trouble should not be exalted in society. Hence censorship should be restricted only to a few objectionable pieces otherwise art is mankind’s prerogative which cannot be censored.
-Sayali Upasham
FE, SIES Graduate School of Technology
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FE, SIES Graduate School of Technology#
Art is expression given life. The beauty of man’s raging mind all flowing like a serene river on the canvas. An artist’s mind soars to the heights to where the gods place their footstool and to the deepest recesses of the ocean to bring out valuable gems of unmatched beauty.
How does he feel when the child of his mind, the offspring of his intellect and talent is crushed, broken and presented in a completely different way for the whole world to see? Disheartened and depressed he shall be. For the sake of portrayal, his only child is stripped of its beauty and presented to ignorant masses who do not completely understand the efforts taken into bringing life in a rather isolated piece of paper. That’s what censorship is all about. It is portrayed as an effort to hide nudity and vulgarity from rather nubile minds, but many a times is an effort by the people in power to suppress the free running thoughts of an individual which would have someday cleared the smokescreen we all are living in. Thus we all hope that art; a raging yet serene river, is allowed to flow freely, without any obstacles so that it may meet the sea of truth and wisdom.
-Rohan Vivera
FE, SIES Graduate School of Technology#
Art is but a figment of the human mind. Can we limit art to confined boundaries like the goldfish in a fish tank? Can humanity progress if all there is for the imagination to leap into are walls of cold metal erected by someone who is deemed diligent to do so? The censors in this said case play a part worse than the critics. De-recognizing art even before letting the world (or themselves) to soak it in. Art is best unaltered, when allowed to flow freely, without any infiltration by the outside world. I see no better excuse than this to indulge ourselves in the mindful fantasies born in an artist's mind.
-Rohit Tandekar
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It’s been 14 billion years after our
planet begins to breathe the air of existence. Still, I am awestruck by the
story of a primeval creature on it; a creature that we all more commonly
acknowledge as 'man'. Needless to say, it’s been an amazing story of survival,
of strife, of endurance, of grief, of optimism, that never ceases to appeal and
enchant all of us.
My
mind traversed. I asked my being what is that feature of man that stands at the
peak of all his abilities. An instant jolt hit me. The ability of man to
express or portray himself and his feelings to the world, I felt, is the most
gifted possession that we can have. The world recognizes this talent as
"ART".
Isn't
that soul the most blessed who can emit the same thoughts of his to the people
at large? It may be through the variations of music, through the mystery of a
portrait, through the charm of a sculpture or simply through the captivation of
a book. Art is a magical force which we never realize. It is twice blessed, it
blesses the one who creates it, and it blesses the one who reads it through his
senses.
-Vishnu Chandrasenan
FE, SIES Graduate School of Technology
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Generally people say that art is an expression of thought &
a truckload of emotions. I always felt art is a way to escape from reality. To
live in a world you built, so that you can escape the harsh truth of life or
sometimes, the artist may find reality to be simply - boring!
Censorship is becoming pretty dominant in modern art. Censorship
is usually pressured by narrow minded chauvinists who just want to stubbornly
hold on to their point and hide the obvious truth and disapprove the beauty of
the art.
At times censorship is acceptable if the painting is highly
offensive and mean to an individual or a culture. But nudity is not always
vulgarity.
The human body is beautiful and needs to be appreciated. It’s
true that Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. A person may find a painting
to be obscene if he/she can’t see the artist’s interpretation of it. Not only
nudity, even sad truths of the society like war & bloodshed, racism
victims, poverty & misery, all are toned down for the selfish needs of
others. Censorship kills the artist's will to create their wonderful art. All
we need is a friendly reminder that “Everything we hear is an opinion, not a
fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth”.
-Vignesh VK
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Art is the portrayal of emotions and thoughts of an artist. It is an expression of human imagination and intelligence.
A good artist is one who can manipulate the thoughts and ideas of the masses by
his work. True art is characterized by an irresistible urge in an artist. For
an artist, his work is like a child to him and censorship of art is like cruelty
towards his child! Censorship acts like a barrier between artists and the
society. Art is not about the study of positive reality but it is the seeking
for truth, making it an even better barometer of what is happening in our world
than the stock market!
Art is the portrayal of emotions and thoughts of an artist. It is an expression of human imagination and intelligence.
Censorship
deprives the society of the truth. With the intention of preventing obscenity,
censorship itself becomes obscene. If there is a bit of amiability in
society, artists end up getting the privilege of expressing their thoughts
effectively. To me, censorship in society shows society's lack of confidence in
itself, thus making it a setback!
-Vinit Varadarajan
FE, SIES Graduate School of Technology
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A thought is enough, or even just a word,
A pencil is what we need, to create a whole new world.
Politics may be, nature or even us,
Caricatures, Portraits seem just not enough.
Creating every inch of thought, in every stroke,
Filling it with colours, words to bring out the irony or the joke.
Truth is what it says, hits you hard on the face,
Cowards are you to accept it, or afraid of the media chase?
Criticism, charges you impose upon us, say we are traitors to our own motherland,
Freedom to speak out is long lost, now you chain up our clean hands.
Trials, lock ups, what not you try to show us,
One creation of ours stripped your clothes off, that’s what just enough!
“Shame” you have lost, bathing in tubs full of money,
My people die of hunger, while you enjoy the delicacies with your honey.
Lets us bring out the truth, let us speak,
Compel us not to step back, or we gear up for a huge leap.
Create we will, bring out every bitter truth that you hide,
No matter what odds you create, we will always keep up the fight.
-Akshay Nalavade
FE, SIES Graduate School of Technology
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A thought is enough, or even just a word,
A pencil is what we need, to create a whole new world.
Politics may be, nature or even us,
Caricatures, Portraits seem just not enough.
Creating every inch of thought, in every stroke,
Filling it with colours, words to bring out the irony or the joke.
Truth is what it says, hits you hard on the face,
Cowards are you to accept it, or afraid of the media chase?
Criticism, charges you impose upon us, say we are traitors to our own motherland,
Freedom to speak out is long lost, now you chain up our clean hands.
Trials, lock ups, what not you try to show us,
One creation of ours stripped your clothes off, that’s what just enough!
“Shame” you have lost, bathing in tubs full of money,
My people die of hunger, while you enjoy the delicacies with your honey.
Lets us bring out the truth, let us speak,
Compel us not to step back, or we gear up for a huge leap.
Create we will, bring out every bitter truth that you hide,
No matter what odds you create, we will always keep up the fight.
-Akshay Nalavade
FE, SIES Graduate School of Technology
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They banned my books,
They
banned my words,
Which
could ever, change this world;
They
did it, just for a fame,
And
you didn't protest, isn't it a shame?
Music
is my passion, I can't perform it on stage,
Because
they sent me into the cage,
Cage
wasn't made up of iron rods
But
strong enough to curb my thoughts;
They
did it, just for a fame,
And
you didn't protest, isn't it a shame?
I
am not allowed in my own country,
Why
can't I express, without a boundary?
I
knocked their doors, they refused it again,
I
lost everything, now nothing to gain;
They
did it, just for a fame,
And
you didn't protest, isn't it a shame?
Why
do we wait for something to happen?
Why
can't we use our unity as a weapon?
Why
do we sit at home like a dumb?
It's
time to fight for an art and freedom.
-Ameya Kale
FE, SIES Graduate School of Technology
Today we are under the deceit of corporal censorship of our expression. We live in a time where a poor roadside artist fears to paint a portrait that might consort extremism from some religious groups. We live in a time where a true artist fears to take up his career in his vocation fearing censorship and its repercussions. We live in a time where we are no more judged by our artistic aptitude, but sadly, by how much materialist knowledge we can imbibe through rote.
I firmly believe that the people who can make a little positive difference to other people's lives are the people of the highest order in existence. Art is a guide-way where this can be leveraged. A music seeker will find sheer joy to hear the improvisation of a raaga on a violin whereas materialist studies will one day refrain to induce interest. Hence I believe people like Da Vinci or Yesudas has done more to humanity and mankind than probably Newton or Einstein. It is for this very little reason that art should never be censored. Art has phenomenal healing, inspiring, motivating and life transforming powers. Censorship is a cold blooded murder of the same.
Censorship has to vanish into oblivion and I believe it one day will. Just like how a metal naturally corrodes back to its original oxidized state after man painstakingly purifies it, the law of nature always prevails at last. It was the nature's law that gifted man his expressiveness and art. So the role of nature will allow total freedom of speech to prevail over the freedom to curtail it. No mundane man has the authority to impose a filter on the works of an expressive soul.
The need for censorship never arises if all forms of art are seen in the context of true expression. If we all learn to respect each and every one's philosophy, religion and political beliefs, we would never have an ego which can get hurt merely by a piece of art. The moment when each and every human being learns to respect each other human being, at the highest rational plane, will be the moment when true progress is achieved. In such a world, there will never have to be a censor or a restriction because the purpose of art is itself precisely understood there.
I drifted back from my thoughtful little siesta. A daily newspaper page fluttered in front of me. The news struck me in coincidence: Religious outfit forces artist Eleena Banik to take the objectionable painting off exhibition at Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai".
A smile was all that I could respond to that news with. That newspaper page tenderly reminded me of a hard fact; the more the things seem to change, the more they remain the same!