New Delhi, July 26 - As the country gears up for its annual art fair - India Art Summit - August 19-22, the name missing from the summit rolls is of self-exiled Maqbool Fida Husain.
For the second time in a row, the summit has failed to bring India's best known face in international art to the three-day fair.
'I am in no way involved with the India Art Summit. Look what they have done to my father. They could not even bring his works and none of the galleries taking part in the fair has taken a stand,' Shamshad Husain, the Delhi-based son of the legendary artist, told IANS Sunday.
The India Art Summit 2009, launched last year, will bring 54 galleries - including 17 international ones from 11 countries - with accompanying trade and educational sessions on art spread over four days.
A statement by the organisers of the India Art Summit Sunday evening said: 'While we acknowledge the lifelong achievements and the iconic status of artists like M.F. Husain in Indian art, we are unable to put the entire collective concern at risk by showcasing artists who have in the past been received with hostility by certain sections of the society unless we recieve protection from government and the Delhi police.'
Last year too, the art summit could not get Husain's works to the fair, citing security threat in the light of the pending cases against him, despite demands by the artistic fraternity.
Husain left India in 2006 after rightwing Hindu outfits threatened him for having painted Hindu goddesses in the nude and a non-bailable warrant was issued against him.