Interesting episode in public art reception in Singapore. The Indian High Commission complains about an image of Gandhi painted on a giant flip-flop by Singapore-based artist Ketna Patel. The work is meant, according to Patel, "as a celebration of Asian identity, mixing Asian icons with common everyday objects." But of course a flip-flop is something that one puts one's feet into, and part of Asian identity is to feel that the bottom of the foot is 'unclean', and to point the bottom of the foot at someone, is particularly rude.

The artist explains "The slippers are a metaphor for footsteps. Our ancestors have set the tone, and we walk in their footsteps. These are 'shoes' that are too big to fill. The legacy left behind by Mahatma Gandhi is not only for Indians, but also for humanity and we walk in his footsteps."

Hmmm... it doesn't ring true to me, but I must say I've never been a fan of Patel's work, I feel she's appropriating imagery to create a facile image of Asia...

But I do like the Esplanade's response (from the Straits Times):

A spokesman for The Esplanade said it will take the exhibit down tomorrow, but only because the exhibition ends today.

She said it decided to leave the exhibit up to encourage debate and expression.

The Esplanade said it had taken into account the genre of the piece and understood that the artist meant for it to be a flattering metaphor.

It added: 'In this case, we have learnt that there are always different points of view regarding art, and assuming just one interpretation of the work - and in our case assuming the more positive one - may not necessarily be shared by others.'

# posted @ 8:29 PM