new delhi within hours of the culture ministrys statement that absence of m f husains works at the indian art summit will not reflect the true art scenario of india culture minister ambika soni landed to inaugurate the threeday event on fridayministry officials found it difficult to distance themselves from the event which claims the culture ministry as one of its sponsors officials said the organizers had asked the ministry if it would like to be part of the event the ministry agreed but we have no say as to whose works are included in the exhibition a source saidwhile the art summit has blacked out husain safdar hashmi memorial trust has organized a parallel exhibition husain art summit to protest the decision in a statement sahmat said in the first art summit you exclude the most prominent artist just because some people have objected to his work it doesnt make any sense so as a mark of solidarity we are showing some 1020 paintings of husainthe indian art summit aims to provide a platform for experts of big auction houses like sothebys and christies to discuss development of modern and contemporary indian art indias top 35 galleries have come together to showcase 400 works from their collection consisting of paintings sculptures photography mixed media video prints installations and drawingsbut husains absence was felt at the inauguration his works have not been included on the ground that they might become controversial husain has been out of india for nearly two years after a series of cases were filed against him in various courts on charge of obscenityindian artists like jatin das openly criticized the organizers for leaving out husain it is the first indian art summit where so many artists are showcasing their work husain is a very important artist of india and he should also have been represented here political parties have nothing to do with art they have no understanding of it politicising art is very sad das saidrobert storr of yale universitys school of art also felt it was sad not to include husain from what i have read it is terrible husain is much too important a person not only as an artist but also a global cultural figure for this to have happened the whole nature of the physical threats to culture is that you have to stand up against it it is the only way to protect the freedom of expression which is the actual minimum for art to freely express itself storr saidin order to mark a symbolic protest peter nagys nature morte gallery has included a ram rehman photo of husain painting a horse we put this photo because of husains exclusion if this is not a safe place to show husain then where is it it is a matter of freedom of expression he has been censored and is in exile if the art fraternity is not going to support him then who will nagy asked