A quiet evening at Kochi's Durbar Hall Art Gallery turned chaotic at 6:30 pm, Wednesday, October 22, when a group led by local artist Hochimin PH and Sudhamshu stormed the ongoing international exhibition 'Estranged Geographies' and tore artworks from the walls. The vandalised pieces, a series of six printed linocuts titled 'Go Eat Your Dad' by Algerian-French artist Hanan Benammar, were criticised as "obscene".

The act was live-streamed on social media and has created a shock among Kerala's art community and beyond. Artists, curators, and cultural organisations have condemned the attack as it questions artistic freedom.

Hanan Benammar, born in Paris in 1989, is an internationally recognised Algerian-French artist based in Oslo. Her art practice spans sound and video installations, performances, sculpture, music, and public interventions, often exploring geopolitical, environmental and societal issues over long-term projects. Benammar also curates and organises collective platforms as part of her artistic practice.

Her work has been shown and performed globally, including at Kunsthal Charlottenborg in Copenhagen, Radikal Unsichtbar in Hamburg, Edge of Wrong in Cape Town, Le Cube in Rabat, Black Box Teater in Oslo, BEK–Bergen Centre for Electronic Arts, Ultima Contemporary Music Festival in Oslo, Bildmuseet in Umeå, and The Golden Bridge in Reykjavík.

About the vandalised work

'Go Eat Your Dad' was based on back translations from Norwegian to Spanish, Danish, Bosnian and Malayalam, with each iteration shaped by the translators involved.

The work reflects Benammar's experiences as a woman of colour navigating a predominantly white society, exploring silencing, censorship and the politics of language.

Speaking to Mathrubhumi exclusively following the art vandalism, Benammar said, "'Go Eat Your Dad' is a response to the many experiences I have as a female artist of colour in a predominantly white society such as Norway, of silencing, tone policing, belittling, ridiculing and direct attempts of censorship. I have fought many battles, and this one is not the last. I have worked with politically loaded themes and contexts for many years, and for that I am proud. The role of an artist is also to create a space of discomfort and critical thinking, question the so-called canons, established truths, aesthetics and ideologies. I am not interested in entertainment and stereotypical notions of beauty."

'An attack on artistic freedom'

Benammar described the vandalism as "an attack on artistic freedom and free expression."

"My first reaction was understandably with great concerns for the safety of the staff, exhibition, audience and fellow artists. I am extremely concerned that this incident will create fear among the artistic community of Kerala, especially among young female artists. I want to fight for my work so that the space of expression for my colleagues here is not shrinking in the future," she said.

"We need more voices, not less. I personally do not mind strong reactions to my work, which I have experienced before multiple times, in small and larger scales," he added.

 

Hanan said she had not been contacted for discussion prior to the vandalism. "Hochimin, who never reached out to me prior to his vandalism of my work, claims that 'Go Eat Your Dad' is anti-Dalit, anti-women and not art. I can't dive into the complexity of the caste system in India, which I am not very familiar with, but to claim that every piece of art that you don't consider "art" should be forcibly removed straight from the wall is a grave authoritarian gesture. Furthermore, I would like to say that women such as myself have the right to reclaim "obscenity" as he calls it or vulgarity, and that this is a long-standing feminist gesture, which he seems not to understand or acknowledge."

'Such acts must be resisted'

In response to the attack, Kerala Lalithakala Akademi Chairman Murali Cheeroth clarified, "These were not abusive words. Benammar had encountered such words as criticism in her life and translated them into Malayalam using Google Translate before incorporating them into her work. We discussed the issue with executive members and decided to take legal action. Such acts must be resisted so that they are not repeated in the future."

He added that Benammar had requested that the torn fragments of her artwork be left on the gallery floor as a gesture of defiance.

Subsequently, the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi filed a formal complaint at the Ernakulam Central Police Station, leading to the registration of a case against Hochiman and his associate Sudhamshu under Sections 329(3) (criminal trespass) and 324(4) (committing mischief) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

A message to women artists

For Benammar, the attack is part of a broader struggle faced by women in the arts. "Power has always tried to curb women's expression, particularly when it threatens entrenched social structures. But I think women have always been resourceful and in solidarity with each other; that's how we survive. We have to insist on our work, again and again. And be brave."

She advised Kerala's artists, especially women, to be resilient. "I think women of all ages are threatened," she said, pointing out that "this vandalism is an attack on all female artists. For a man to come to an exhibition and tell what is art or not and take down my work is an attack on the artistic labour of all women."