Documentary Filmmaker Withdraws From Literary Festival Over “Nose Ring Edit”
Mahi Ramakrishnan claims organisers removed her nose and eyebrow studs from promotional material without her permission, calling it an erasure of her identity.
- Mahi Ramakrishnan withdrew from WoW KL after AI-edited promotional images removed her nose and eyebrow studs without consent.
- She argued the edits erased her cultural identity and contradicted the festival's own panel on freedom of expression.
- Organisers admitted using AI due to limited funding, denied intentional edits, and apologised to those affected.
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Documentary filmmaker and human rights advocate Mahi Ramakrishnan has withdrawn from the World of Words (WoW) KL festival after claiming that organisers had used artificial intelligence (AI) to digitally remove her nose and eyebrow studs from promotional material without her permission.
Mahi shared her concerns on social media after she noticed the alterations when fellow writer Malachi Edwin Vethamani shared a panel session involving her on Facebook.
She said she was shocked to discover that her appearance had been digitally altered, particularly because the changes involved jewellery that she considers part of her cultural identity.
“An Erasure Of My Cultural Identity”
According to Mahi, removing her nose studs amounted to an erasure of her cultural identity, while the removal of her eyebrow stud appeared to suggest that her appearance needed to be changed to fit an expected image of what a speaker should look like.
“None of these are acceptable,” she said.
Mahi said the changes were especially concerning because she had not given permission for her appearance to be digitally altered.
“In my view, this is an erasure of my identity in the very promotional material used to promote me,” she added.
Speaking About Freedom Of Expression
To Mahi, the incident was made more troubling by the fact that she was due to speak on a panel about freedom of expression and censorship.
She questioned how she could participate in a discussion about freedom of expression when the festival’s promotional material had digitally altered her appearance without her consent.
“I cannot speak at a panel about Freedom of Expression and censorship when the aspirations of the festival do not include the freedom to appear, exist and express myself without being digitally altered to conform to somebody else’s idea of what a speaker should look like,” she said.
Supports The Festival’s Aspirations
Despite her decision to withdraw, Mahi acknowledged the importance of what WoW KL is trying to achieve.
She said she commended the festival’s efforts to encourage a reading culture and create spaces for writers, particularly at a time when she believes Malaysia’s democratic space is shrinking.
However, she stressed that a festival built around freedom of expression must also uphold those principles itself.
“A festival celebrating Freedom of Expression must also practice the principles it celebrates,” she said.
Mahi Withdraws From WoW KL
Mahi subsequently announced that she would be withdrawing from the festival.
“For these reasons, I am withdrawing from the festival,” she said.
The incident also highlights broader questions surrounding the use of AI and digital editing in promotional images, particularly when a person’s appearance is altered without their knowledge or consent.
For Mahi, the issue is ultimately about having the freedom to present herself as she is — without being digitally changed to fit someone else’s idea of how a speaker should look.
Organiser admits using AI and has apologised to those affected
TRP reached out to Sajeet Soudagar, the organiser of Wow KL and they admitted to utilising AI tools to create promotional material for the event, however he denied the piercing edits were done intentionally.
According to Sajeet, the festival is fully self-funded and without any sponsors, grants, or financial aid of any kind, they had stretched their resources to the limit. They then resorted to AI, which he claimed had been declared on social media.
“This had made some people unhappy. We personally reached out to each person who expressed unhappiness about the use of AI.
“We apologised to them sincerely, then urged them to look at the greater cause we are working on. To focus on the cause and be part of a good movement. To join us and help us so next year, we won’t have to AI and help spread the good word of how important it is for society to start reading again,” he said.
When asked if Mahi’s piercings were intentionally removed in the picture, Sajeet said it was not done on purpose, and admitted that neither he nor Mahi herself noticed that her piercings were absent in the photos until she took a closer look at it later.
He also said he has already explained and apologised to her for the oversight.
What is World of Words exactly?
WoW KL is a Malaysian reading and literary festival that describes itself as a movement to promote purposeful reading and rebuild Malaysia’s reading culture, rather than simply a conventional book festival.
Supported by organisations like the National Library of Malaysia, Writers’ Association of Malaysia and British Council Malaysia, the festival was launched in September 2025 at Sasana Kijang, Bank Negara Malaysia.
Its inaugural edition brought together readers, writers, educators, students, authors, book clubs and cultural figures through forums, workshops, performances and other activities.
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