“Our relations with Japan are centuries old. We have respect for each other’s cultures. This is because of Bapu (Mahatma Gandhi) We all have heard his saying, ‘bura mat dekho, bura mat suno, bura mat kaho’ (see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil). But very people know that the genesis of the three monkeys he chose to spread the message is in the 17th century Japan,” he said.
The three monkeys are Mizaru, covering his eyes, who sees no evil; Kikazaru, covering his ears, who hears no evil; and Iwazaru, covering his mouth, who speaks no evil.
Recently, the sculptures were installed permanently in Katara Cultural Village in Doha, Qatar.
Philosophy
This series of sculptures continues Gupta’s inspections of dualities in his artwork, including themes of war and peace, public and private, global and local.[3] The phrase “See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil” first emerged in Japan in the 17th century and was later adopted worldwide as a message of peace and tolerance due to Mahatma Gandhi’s visual metaphor of the three monkeys, with one of them covering his eyes, the second his mouth, and the third his ears.[2]
Gupta’s sculptures recall Gandhi’s vision of these three monkeys as a way to peacefully fight against contemporary colonialism, oppression and injustice.[