Artist Hanan Benammar condemns vandalism of her works in Kochi

Algerian-French artist Hanan Benammar has condemned the vandalism of a set of her works displayed at the Durbar Hall Art Gallery in Kochi calling it “violence in an art space.”

Expressing dismay over the incident, Ms. Benammar said that she hoped “artists think twice before attacking another artist’s work physically.”

Ms. Benammar who resides in Oslo, Norway, was speaking to media in Kochi on Thursday (October 23, 2025), a day after P.H. Hochimin, an artist from Kottayam, destroyed six of her works featured in the ongoing exhibition ‘Estranged Geographies,’ alleging verbal obscenity in them. She said she was disappointed by the fact that a fellow artist chose to pull down her works without discussing with her the criticism he had against the works.

Spaces for free expression

“I felt very stressful thinking about the safety of the artists here, the works and the audience, but then I was very relieved to know that only the works were attacked. I condemn the violence in an art space. It’s very important to preserve spaces for free expression, especially in the complicated and difficult times we live in,” she said.

Ms. Benammar said that her works “ironically was a response to several acts of silencing and tone policing and, at times, censorship I experienced as an artist.” She said the works attempted to look into class and gender within language and colloquial language, in particular.

Ms. Benammar’s response came even as the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi, which jointly organised the exhibition with the State Department of Culture, made it clear that it would take legal action against the artist who vandalised the works. She said she was not planning to file any separate complaint.

Lack of discretion

Slamming Mr. Hochimin’s act, Murali Cheeroth, chairman of the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi, told media on Thursday that the executive committee of the institution has decided to file a complaint with the police over the matter. He also questioned the criticism that that the works were obscene. “Ms. Benammar’s works featured the very nasty criticisms she had to face from her male companion. She translated them into Malayalam using Google’s tool and wrote them down by herself. Those who criticised the works lacked the discretion to understand that the very act of putting the words down in her own handwriting was a work of art,” he said. Mr. Cheeroth said the Akademi will be answerable to the Norwegian government and the Embassy over the incident.

He said the artist has decided to leave the torn works intact and exhibit a CCTV footage of the act of vandalism at the show.

Shocking, says Baby

Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] general secretary M.A. Baby on Thursday took strong exception to the incident terming it shocking and unacceptable. He said the artworks were vandalised by a gang of irresponsible publicity seekers. “Disagreements may arise, but those should never be voiced through destruction or vandalism. This criminal act cannot be tolerated,” he wrote on X.

The exhibition, which features works by artists from France, Norway, and Switzerland, as well as Kerala, will continue till November 15.