Hanan Benammar (top), the act of sadaachara gundaism on her art (left), one of her artworks in the series titled "Go Eat Your Dad" , linocut on rice paper, at Kerala Lalithakala Akademi, Durbar Hall, Kochi (right)
Kerala is the global headquarters of sadaachara gundaism.
Sadaachara Gunda (സദാചാര ഗുണ്ട) can be translated as a moral goon. Malayalam is a language in which, the criminal act of moral policing women in public places is described by feminists, as gundaism (goonery, accurately so) and not policing (law enforcement, which it is not).
Facebook Ammavan (ഫേസ്ബുക്ക് അമ്മാവൻ) can be translated as a creepy, old, “uncle” policing women online, usually with misogynistic moralism, by all means necessary.
Ammavan Syndrome is a disease that has afflicted Malayali men.
Chauvinistic Malayali men have the bad habit of telling women what not to do, in public spaces, including art galleries of global contemporary art.
Basically, sadaachara gundaism, and ammavan syndrome are symptoms of men from Kerala, who can be described as Malayali Male Chauvinistic Pigs.
Hanan Benammar is the most recent survivor of this territorial invasion by these gundas and ammavans.
An exemplar of a woman artist, as a survivor of Malayali online hate.
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Hanan Benammar is quoted in The News Minute, as saying, “But I have not had such angry reactions before.”
That is because she has never faced Malayali Facebook Ammavans before. Anger is one of the toxic tools of these Facebook Ammavans, besides gaslighting. It is not surprising that she has never faced such anger anywhere else in the world, because this kind of toxic sadaachara gundaism is unique to Kerala men.
But, Hanan Benammar’s experience in Kerala is not limited to Facebook Ammavan syndrome and its physical fallout, a territorial invasion in the form of sadaachara gundaism, which some people denote as ‘vandalism’. Calling this sadaachara gunda machismo as ‘vandalism’ will be glorifying it, because this is street-level bravado of misguided negative energy channeled into a space of global contemporary art.
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As a counterpoint to this disgraceful Malayali male chauvinistic drama, feminist art historian Kavitha Balakrishnan has shown the intellectual courage of calling a spade a spade. With admirable professorial pride, Kavitha quotes her student Hanna Ameen as saying, “കൊള്ളേണ്ടവർക്ക് കൊണ്ടു. അതിൽ കലാകാരി വിജയിച്ചു.” Hanna Ameen’s words can be translated as, “It outraged those who were meant to feel its sting. Big win for the
artist.”
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Here, Hanna Ameen may be alluding to the potential of the post-conceptual sting of global contemporary art that, “The best art manages to fulfill the promise of the antinomy, as the very root of aesthetic experience, and not surrender itself to exemplary ineffectual gestures.” (Bishop, 2006)
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Antinomy can be described as a promise of art as a living field of unresolved conflict, a contradiction that cannot be resolved but must be inhabited, a contradiction that allows discomfort, ambiguity, and self-reflection.
This self-reflection is equally applicable to the question of online abuse in Norway and its mirror, Kerala with its Facebook Ammavans and sadaachara gundas.
Hanan Benammar doesn’t preach against hate. She makes hate legible as form. Hanan Benammar turns online abuse into an ethical problem for the viewer.
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Who is triggered by the enactment of online abuse as an ethical problem? Other online abusers, territorial invaders, “vandals”, sadaachara gundas and Facebook Ammavans.
സ്വാഭാവികം!*
*That’s quite natural
References:
Balakrishnan, Kavitha. “’തെറി’ച്ച പരീക്ഷണങ്ങൾ.” Social Media. Facebook, October 24, 2025. https://www.facebook.com/kbalakrishnan
Bishop, Claire. “The Social Turn: Collaboration and Its Discontents.” Artforum, February
2006. https://www.artforum.com/features/the-social-turn-collaboration-and-its-discontents-173361/
Cris, and Maria Teresa Raju. “‘Expected Strong Reactions, Not Vandalism’: Hanan Benammar on Attack on Kochi Art Exhibition.” The News Minute, October 24, 2025. https://www.thenewsminute.com/kerala/expected-strong-reactions-not-vandalism-hanan-benammar-on-attack-on-kochi-art-exhibition
(A Novel Way is a series by John Xaviers Arackal which is about reading contemporary life through books, especially novels. John Xaviers Arackal is an arts professional who is serving as a Programme Officer of the Arts Practice programme at the India Foundation for the Arts, Bangalore.)
(The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of our portal.)
