The ‘satanic’ statue in the Lahore Museum has finally been removed. Since the statue was placed in the front gardens, it had irked a lot of people.
The visitors can heave a sigh of relief now that its been removed.
About the Satanic Statue and Why It Was Removed
Last week, this 20 feet tall sculpture went viral over social media, with many criticizing it for being an image of the devil.
Due to the sheer size and grotesque features, people thought the statue was inappropriate for the historic venue.
After all the backlash, the structure was covered up till it was finally removed after court orders.
How Was the Satanic Statue Removed
A lawyer, Ambreen Qureshi had filed a petition in the high court calling for the removal of the sculpture. The petition stated that the piece lacked historical, scientific cultural or educational value and should be removed.
“The Lahore Museum falls under the historical buildings of Pakistan and placing the statue in question belittles and disrespects not only its historical but cultural value.”
The sculpture was created by Punjab University fine arts graduate Irbaat ul Hassan.
According to the artist, the statue was not meant to be devilish and there are no devilish thoughts behind the creation.
What the Artist Behind the Statue has to say about it
The statue is supposed to portray the dark side of mankind with an animal-human hybrid. Inspiration for the piece was drawn from the Zainab child abuse case.
“When I was [in the phase of] sketching this sculpture, the Zainab case was ongoing and it left me sleepless for nights. I couldn’t understand how a person could fall so low. The fact that we call such a man an animal, how far a man can become wild, it inspired the work.”
The Museum’s Response
Uzma Usmani, an exhibition officer at Lahore Museum said that the sculpture was removed to protect the interests of the museum.
“The museum is a sensitive place and we do not want any negative light to come to it. The exhibition we planned was an innocent, humble attempt to make the museum a more open place. We’ve been criticized that we don’t welcome people, so the exhibition was an attempt to break that image.”
She mentioned that if people failed to understand the artwork then it is the museum’s duty to remove the artwork.
“If people weren’t able to understand our message, then it’s our duty to remove it. We’re not here for fasaad. The statue was not a museum artifact or property, it was for temporary display anyway.”
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it was a*nice* piece of art.. sadly we lahoris cant digest Art.. <8
I cant believe that how bunch Karens have so much power in the court that first they remove that statue and now they banned PUBG the governments does have a mind of itself