Johny Mulluvilakom Lakshmanan's penchant to grab attention every now and then by making imprudent statements and writing preposterous pieces is well known in the art circles. Rubbing people and institutions on the wrong shoulder is nothing new to this art historian and art critic from Kerala - whether exhorting PM Modi to start a debate because of the Pune Biennale 2015 debacle (of which he was the project director) or stating that Prof. Rajeev Lochan should be out of the NGMA or unimpressively shooting down opinions of senior scholars and curators, there are many in the Indian art fraternity who believe that there should be a Code of Conduct for art critics and historians or an association on the lines of Association of Art Historians (AAH) UK to ensure that a certain dignity in approach and comments is maintained.
It doesn't suit someone to indulge in mud slinging and go pooh-poohing proudly that by doing so they become brave and outspoken under the garb of artistic freedom of speech and expression. The Pune fiasco might not have been so much about the artworks as it was more about Johny ML's defiance against local authorities and sentiments as the other works depicting nudes were not asked to be removed by the uniformed miscreants who were exceptionally outraged by Noida based artist-duo Manil-Rohit's work. Such controversies can easily be avoided if Indian curators exercise reasonable caution and demonstrate appreciation of regional cultural sensibilities.
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