Police Arrest Artist, Sieze Artwork Over Alleged Religious Slur

MAYLAY MAIL

SINGAPORE---Police detained prominent artist Anurendera Jegadeva and seized his entire installation from an ongoing exhibition organised by the National Visual Arts Gallery (NVAG) today following allegations of insult against Islam. The painting by the artist popularly known as J. Anu was included in the “ABC For The Middle-Age Middle Classes" installation and featured a mirrored inscription of the Arabic word "basmala" that is part of the Islamic phrase commonly translated as "In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful". This was said to have been targeted in a number of pro-Umno blogs today. "I understand he might be charged with Section 298 of Penal Code ... The question therefore is whether he did really insult Islam with the piece he put up," Anurendera's lawyer, Nizam Bashir, told The Malay Mail Online. Section 298 deals with crimes of "uttering words, et cetera, with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person". [link]

Police officers reportedly arrived around 1pm today at the “M50 Selamat Hari Malaysia” exhibition honouring the upcoming 50th Malaysia Day in creative retail mall Publika, Solaris Dutamas here. There, they proceeded to detain Anurendera and confiscate his installation from the ongoing show. Anurendera is currently being questioned at the district police headquarters in Sentul here, according to Nizam.  The piece in question features the phrase "I is for IDIOT" in white typeface on top of the images of a chimpanzee riding a bicycle, a jet fighter pilot in front of the words "Mission Accomplished", and a red-and-white-striped flag with a Jolly Roger skull-and-crossbones — commonly associated with pirates — on it. J.Anu's contentious painting.It is understood that Anurendera's painting is meant to criticise the so-called  war against terror in Iraq launched by then US president George W. Bush in 2002. The rest of his installation were different paintings for each letter of the English alphabet with the same theme; these include pieces such as "J is for Jesus", "K is for Krishna", "L is for Land" and "M is for Mother".

His creations have featured in the National Art Gallery as well as in art museums here and in Singapore. Paintings by the artist in his 40s have sold for as much as RM30, 000 and are included in several private collections of art enthusiasts.