‘Too political’: Priyanka Gandhi's son Raihan Vadra asked to take down 75 photos from Delhi show

By 7 pm, when No Idea Is Final opened to visitors, several walls were bare, with empty spaces and nails marking where the photographs had hung.

A catalogue displaying the removed works offered visitors a glimpse of what the exhibition was originally intended to showcase.

“They made us take them down. We spoke to them, but they threatened that they would cancel the show if we didn’t take them down. So, there wasn’t much of an option left,” Vadra, 26, told ThePrint in an exclusive interview.

‘Too political’: Artist questions last-minute decision

Vadra, the son of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and businessman Robert Vadra, and nephew of Rahul Gandhi, said the exhibition proposal had been approved on June 30 last year.

He added that the venue had received the exhibition layout a week before the opening but had not raised any objections until the final hours.

According to Vadra, Bikaner House management objected to photographs documenting youth movements and protests held in Delhi over the preceding six months, citing their political nature and the timing of the exhibition.

“I thought, as an artist, it was my duty to document and display those images,” he said, adding that he had already removed overt political messaging from the photographs.

Vadra claimed the venue told him that the images were inappropriate given the prevailing political circumstances and suggested that they could be displayed at a later date.

He also questioned why the objections had surfaced so late, arguing that an earlier warning would have given him time to reconsider the arrangement.

75 photographs removed before opening

The photographer said Bikaner House management first contacted him on Tuesday evening, with the dispute escalating on Wednesday as the exhibition’s opening approached.

Vadra alleged that Rohit Kumar, the Principal Resident Commissioner of Bikaner House, inspected the exhibition rooms and instructed him to remove all works considered political by 3.30 pm.

Photo: Instagram/Raihan Vadra

He further claimed that Kumar contacted the Rajasthan Chief Secretary and an official at the Chief Minister’s Office before conveying the decision.

Vadra and his team began taking down the photographs, initially replacing them with blank frames. However, he said the venue subsequently directed them to remove the frames as well.

Even two photographs featuring the Indian national flag reportedly came under scrutiny.

Vadra said he initially resisted removing them but eventually complied to ensure that the exhibition could continue until October 25.

‘All art is political’, says Vadra

Vadra said the photographs were intended as visual documentation of protests rather than political commentary. A press note issued before the exhibition described the images as documentation of protesters and security personnel, without additional commentary.

“Now, I believe that all art is political and timing has nothing to do with it,” he said, questioning whether an art space could exclude political works altogether.

He also pointed to a political installation displayed at Bikaner House in September last year, saying he had raised the example while discussing the venue’s objections.

The photographer maintained that his family background should not define the purpose of his work.

“I am from a political family, but I am not a political person, you know, whatever that means. The whole point was that I was documenting the protests,” he said.

Wildlife photography remains on display

Despite the removal of the protest photographs, Vadra’s wildlife images and abstract works remain part of No Idea Is Final.

The removed photographs included images of police personnel detaining demonstrators during protests over alleged irregularities in the NEET examination and demonstrations against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Another photograph reportedly featured his uncle amid the unrest.

Visitors can view a catalogue of the photographs that were originally intended for the exhibition, even though the images themselves are no longer displayed on the walls.

Vadra plans to show removed works elsewhere

Vadra said the decision to remove the photographs was not the end of the project. He has begun looking for another venue in Delhi where the works can be exhibited in their entirety.

The exhibition is also scheduled to travel to Bengaluru in December, where he plans to display the photographs.

“Putting these shows together takes a lot of hard work and time,” he said, adding that he would seek a more suitable venue for the removed works.

For now, the empty walls at Bikaner House stand in contrast to the exhibition’s original vision, while the catalogue preserves a record of the photographs that were meant to be seen.