Artists

protest

Cubbon Park

scarecrows

and activists have come together toagainst ‘moral policing’ byauthorities on lovers, artists and street hawkersDon’t be scared if you see a scarecrow at Cubbon Park on Sunday! Cubbon Park will have varioustemporarily installed within its boundaries. These are not meant to scare birds away, but to protest against authorities who have taken up ‘moral policing’ at Cubbon Park. Artists and activists have come together to protest against ‘moral policing’ by Cubbon Park authorities on lovers, artists, street hawkers, transgenders, etc.Volunteers from Maraa, an arts and media collective, had carried waste products to the park in August which were made into the scarecrows, they spoke to the people they saw there and asked them about those who disappeared from the park. Based on the responses, the team has come up with 12 scarecrows that represent people who were a part of the park or incident at the park. The organisation, which has been fighting for the cause since 2008, decided to use the scarecrow as a metaphor to show that people who are not allowed into the park today still exist in the heart of the park.Angarika Guha of Maraa said, “Since 2008, we have been working closely in public spaces for artistic experiments and renditions. Over the years, we have been using Cubbon Park as a space for rehearsals, performances, collaboration and conversation. Today, the situation has changed. The park has to be used on the terms and conditions laid down by the state. In the name of safety, the park shuts at 6 pm (5 pm unofficially), vendors are not allowed to enter, among other prohibitions, and the park is homophobic and signs of moral policing are visible. The park sees us with its CCTV eyes; fear prevails, evictions continue.”Angarika added that, in the whole process of cleansing of the park, the park is lost. She said, “Systematically, the park has been manicured, cleansed of its ‘indecent miscreants’ so that joggers do not get ‘disturbed’. In the long list of prohibitions, hawking and ‘nuisance’ is included. Whose park is it? Whose imagination was it to look like this?” On Sunday, from 11 am onwards, as a mark of protest, these scarecrows will occupy the park. These scarecrows stand defiant, sharing memories and experiences of a park that is turning hostile and incites fear.