LONDON: Burmese artist Sai was three weeks back celebrating the opening of an art exhibition he had curated with his wife at one of the top galleries in Thailand. However, their exhibition regarding authorities' repression was censored after angering the Chinese government.
The couple has now fled to the UK, where they plan to request asylum. According to the couple, Thai police are looking for them. However, a police spokesperson denied having knowledge about it. Human rights advocates have criticised the situation, terming it an example of transnational repression, BBC News reported. Sai said his exhibition, which featured exiled artists from countries like China, Russia, and Iran, opened at the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Centre on July 26 and witnessed the frequent visits of Chinese embassy representatives along with Bangkok city officials.
The show, titled 'Constellation of Complicity: Visualising the Global Machine of Authoritarian Solidarity', aims to showcase how authoritarian regimes work together in repression, according to one official description.
Sai accused Chinese officials of registering complaints about works by Tibetan, Uyghur and Hong Kong artists, and initially called for a complete shutdown of the show. However, he stated that the arts centre managed to negotiate a compromise that enabled the continuation of the exhibition after sensitive artworks and elements of art installations were removed. According to a news report, several artists’ names in the exhibition were covered up with black paint in the descriptions of artworks. Furthermore, the artists' homeland description was partially covered with black paint to hide references to Hong Kong, Tibet, and Xinjiang.
The majority of the censored artworks included the artworks of Tibetan artist Tenzin Mingyur Paldron. Furthermore, television screens placed during the exhibition to showcase films by the artist, including one about the Dalai Lama, had been switched off.
Tibetan and Uyghur flags, a novel about a Tibetan family in exile, and a postcard about China, Israel and Xinjiang were also removed from the exhibition. Speaking to BBC News, a gallery staff member said that many people came to see the exhibition in recent days after censorship news went viral online. There was an email where the centre said that they had been "warned that the exhibition may risk creating diplomatic tensions between Thailand and China". The email also mentioned that they made the adjustments "due to pressure from the Chinese embassy" transmitted through the Thai Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Bangkok city government, which is the centre's main supporter. In response to BBC queries, a statement by the Chinese embassy accused the exhibition of openly promoting Tibetan, Uyghur and Hong Kong independence. It further stated that Thailand's "timely measures" demonstrated that such a "false notion" has "no market internationally and is unpopular." It further stated that the exhibition "disregards facts... distorts China's policies on Tibet, Xinjiang, and Hong Kong, and harms China's core interests and political dignity". The statement did not refer to allegations that its officials had pressured Thai authorities and the arts centre. (IANS)
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