Satirical T-Shirts anger "Some" Hindus

IOL NEWS
By Gugu Mbonambi

"Kalifornia" by Harry Fokker and Trevor Paul

SOUTH AFRICA - A DA councillor in eThekwini has lodged a complaint with the country’s religious and cultural watchdog body over satirical T-shirts made by two clothing designers: Michan Marais and Harry Fokker, which mock Hindu deities.  According to The Sunday Times Extra, Marais’s design had won second place in the annual Makhulu Polane T-shirt competition. It features a khaki-clad man with a beard and eight arms, sitting cross-legged on a large plant. He holds a protea, beer bottle, slingshot, mealie, braai tongs, rugby ball and a springbok head in his eight hands. The publication quoted Marais saying that: “The people in my (Afrikaans) community used to say Hindu art was scary… But I thought it was beautiful.” Fokker said the idea to reference Kali originated from a play of words in which “Kali” became “Kalifornia”, and he commissioned Trevor Paul, of Firebrand Design, to illustrate his idea. “The design represents a satirical take on the moral and ethical dissolution of popular American society and does not intend to mock and or demean the dignity of Hindus or the Hindu community,” he said. [link]