WARSAW, Poland (AP) – An exhibition by a provocative Chinese artist that criticizes the nation’s human rights report is opening at a Polish state-run museum on Friday regardless of stress from the Chinese embassy to cancel it.
The director of the Center for Contemporary Art within the capital, Warsaw, stated the No. 2 diplomat on the Chinese embassy in Warsaw visited his museum demanding the cancellation of the exhibition by the artist, who goes by the identify Badiucao.
“It wasn’t a request but a firm demand,” stated museum director Piotr Bernatowicz, describing the Chinese authorities’s habits as unacceptable. He stated the Chinese official warned that having the exhibition may hurt Polish-Chinese ties. A Chinese consultant additionally despatched a letter of protest to Poland’s Culture Ministry, he stated.
Badiucao, who has lived in exile in Australia for a few years, stated the Chinese authorities accused him of wounding the emotions of Chinese patriots. He insisted his works are on no account towards the Chinese folks or nation, merely towards the federal government.
The exhibition is titled “Tell China’s Story Well.” Its promotional picture reveals President Xi Jinping consuming human flesh. It additionally takes on different delicate points.
Among them are the Tiananmen Square bloodbath of 1989, Hong Kong pro-democracy demonstrations quelled by China and what the museum is asking “the disturbing relationship between China and Russia in light of the war in Ukraine.”
In a efficiency for reporters forward of the opening, Badiacao threw eggs stuffed with paint at a portrait of Mao Zedong in tribute to protesters who have been arrested within the Tiananmen Square protests who did the identical. He described his efficiency as a continuation of their wrestle.
“They should be celebrated as heroes instead of treated as prisoners or enemies of the state,” the artist, born in 1986, informed The Associated Press.
The Chinese authorities has exerted stress previously in an try to censure Badiucao’s work.
An exhibition deliberate in Hong Kong in 2018 was referred to as off on the final minute following threats to the artist and his household.
The Italian metropolis of Brescia confronted veiled financial threats by the Chinese authorities in 2021 however went forward with a present of his work.
The artist saved his identification secret for a few years, sporting masks throughout public appearances to guard his relations. The long-held secrecy drew comparisons to British graffiti artist Banksy, whose true identification stays shrouded in thriller.
The exhibition opening Friday night is because of run till Oct. 15.
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