Poet-activist Aamir Aziz (35) during an event. (image-Instagram/Aamir Aziz)
New Delhi: Acclaimed poet and activist Aamir Aziz has accused renowned contemporary artist Anita Dube of plagiarising his powerful protest poem Sab Yaad Rakha Jayega – using it without consent, credit, or compensation in multiple art exhibitions, including one currently on display at Delhi’s Vadehra Art Gallery. Describing the act as “cultural plunder masquerading as art,” he called out the erasure of marginalised voices in elite spaces.
Aziz said he discovered the alleged plagiarism on March 18, 2025, when a friend visited the Vadehra Art Gallery in Delhi and recognised his poem stitched into a textile artwork displayed as part of Dube’s ongoing solo exhibition. The poem had reportedly been renamed and presented without any attribution to the original author.
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The Vadehra Art Gallery is one of India’s most reputable art institutions and is currently hosting an exhibition of Dube, an internationally celebrated artist. Initially scheduled to close earlier, the exhibition has now been extended until April 26.
“This is outright cultural extraction and plunder, stripping authors of autonomy while profiting off their voices, especially those from marginalised backgrounds. Their work is used without their knowledge, precisely so they can be excluded from the wealth produced through it,” wrote the Jamia Millia Islamia alumnus.
In a detailed social media post, the 35-year-old poet accused Dube of not only using his work without permission in the current exhibition but also displaying versions of it in other shows since 2023, including Of Mimicry, Mimesis and Masquerade and again at the India Art Fair in early 2025. He stated that Dube had “deliberately” hidden the information about the previous exhibitions during their initial conversation.
“This is not solidarity. This is not homage. This is not conceptual borrowing. This is theft. This is erasure,” Aziz wrote. He emphasised that while he supports public use of his poem during protests, using it in elite gallery spaces for commercial gain without permission was unacceptable.
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Aziz’s statement further criticises the broader art world for its history of “extracting, consuming, profiting while pretending it’s radical”. He accused Dube and the gallery of perpetuating a pattern of silencing voices from marginalised communities while profiting off their work.
The poem “Sab Yaad Rakha Jaayega”, a powerful indictment of state violence and injustice, was widely shared during India’s protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC). In February 2020, Pink Floyd’s co-founder Roger Waters recited an English translation of Aziz’s poem at a London event demanding the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Waters credited Azis and his activism and said, “This kid has got a future.”
Aziz described Dube’s appropriation of the poem as “a defanged version stitched in velvet for profit”, saying the act completely undermines the poem’s original intent.
“It’s shameful how far she’s gone and how far her gallery is willing to go just to dodge a simple truth: that Anita Dube built her art on a living poet’s words, and they both refuse to acknowledge or compensate him,” he added.
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Anita Dube is known for using text, found objects, and materials including beads, velvet, and bones to explore the interplay between personal and collective histories. The contemporary Indian artist’s work often follows themes of loss and resistance.
Aamir Aziz gained prominence after he released “Achhe Din Blues” on YouTube in 2019. The poem was inspired by an incident where two men were lynched in Jharkhand on the suspicion that they were cattle smugglers. The folk-inspired song gained popularity for its depiction of the consequences of religious polarisation and strong imagery invoking land rights. caste-based discrimination and more.
