00:00Alright, the big story however that's coming in, why did the Bikaner House, a prestigious
00:05place where exhibitions are held, ask Rehan Wadra to remove the exhibition, speaking exclusively
00:11to India today.
00:11Let's listen in.
00:13Let's work it out, you know, instead of removing two thirds of my show, let's work it out.
00:17Do you see any political motivation behind this move?
00:20I'm asking you why, because you said that you were told that the timing is not correct.
00:24Yeah, so I, I don't know if there was any pressure or motivation from anywhere other
00:33than here, the extent of my knowledge is that the management here said, felt it went against
00:40their policies and they were also, you know, I told them this also, I have nothing against
00:44them, they're just doing their, what they feel is their duty.
00:48In the same way I'm doing what I feel is mine as an artist is that I, I am not
00:53just going
00:53to, you remove the work, I'm not just going to sit quietly.
00:57But yeah, I don't know if there was any political motivation.
00:59Your mother has described this as a assault on, on freedom expression, on youth voice and
01:05do you also see the same way because you've been doing this for quite long and…
01:09Yeah.
01:09And I, I see it in a different way right, I, I agree and, but I also see these things
01:16in,
01:17in the environment that I am in, which is the art environment.
01:20And like I said, these institutions have to have responsibility, have to have a responsibility
01:25towards the art and the artists that they are serving, right?
01:30Tomorrow you don't put any art shows here, what are you going to have, right?
01:33You have cafes, you have restaurants.
01:35But what gives this place and places like it, their value is the art shows, is the exhibitions
01:40that, that, that happen here.
01:42And so many people have reached out to me over the last day and a half that this has happened
01:47to them, this has happened in their shows as well.
01:50Sir, are you looking for an alternate, this is my last question, are you looking for alternate
01:53venue so that people could come and see these so-called objection pictures that have been flagged
01:59off by the management?
02:00I am, I am, this show was anyways meant to travel to Bangalore in December, so that is
02:06going to happen, but I am from here, the photos are from here, I always start my shows in Delhi
02:12so I want to do it in Delhi at some point, when, when and where I am still trying to
02:18figure out.
02:19Thank you, thank you, thank you for speaking with us.
02:22With Riti Bhikta, this is Rahul Gautam reporting for India today.
02:25Alright, that's a big exclusive that Rahul Gautam has got, this is Rehan Wadra, the son of
02:31Priyanka Gandhi Wadra and Robert Wadra speaking up saying, I really don't understand why the
02:36decision was taken and we'll keep listening to the excerpt of that conversation as well,
02:40but he's already also alleged a political bias on this.
02:43So what has happened ladies and gentlemen is that he says barely four hours before the exhibition
02:49was set to begin, I was suddenly asked to remove most of my artworks and some of those artworks were
02:54about the Delhi protests recently, but then he said, I was even asked to remove a tricolour
02:59and I wouldn't do it, I would rather exhibit all of that in some other venue.
