finally. managed to get my hands on the image that caused all the ruckus at the shanaakht festival. a family portrait over which faces of pakistani politicians have been photoshopped.what did people find offensive about this photograph? benazir's sitting on zial-ul-haq's laps, with his arms around her. admittedly, i was a little taken aback at seeing it as well. i was previously under the impression that the benazir in the image was shown as an infant.
i'm not condoning violence as a means through which to achieve what you want. i don't condone taking the law into your own hands. and as close to my heart as the shanaakht festival is, i personally believe that the curator of this particular exhibit should have acted more responsibly.
generally speaking art is not meant for the masses. art exhibitions are open to a select class only; as the editor put it, for "thinking individuals", who may attempt to look deeper into what the artiste is trying to portray. however, for a festival such as shanaakht, which is open to the masses, such an exhibit should have been avoided, just so the sentiments of others were not hurt.
this particular exhibit caused a reaction which i may not agree with, but i can certainly understand. and the resulting repercussions are sad because the festival in itself is an amazing project and tries very sincerely to bring us together, educate us on our origins and reconnect us to our roots.
it's sad because those working on it were at it, relentlessly, despite the monumental odds they were up against, for over two years in order to try and make shanaakht 2009 happen.
