Earthquake works banned from Beijing art show
By, Tania Branigan, Guardian.co.uk
Works about the Sichuan earthquake and other sensitive issues have been banned from a Beijing art show that was to involve controversial figures, its artistic director said today.
The group exhibition at the 798 space, a former electronics factory in the Dashanzi art district, north-east of central Beijing, covered themes including the death of children in schools that collapsed in the quake. The show, the centrepiece of the Beijing 798 Biennale, reopened today but without some of the contentious works.
Zhu Qi, the artistic director of the Biennale, said he told the exhibition's deputy director not to include performance art involving people likely to stir up controversy. They included "Runner Fan", a teacher who became notorious after posting an article on the web saying he fled his school ahead of his pupils during the earthquake; Liu Xiaoyuan, a prominent blogger and lawyer; and the owners of the Chongqing nailhouse who became famous for refusing to leave their home even when developers demolished all the buildings around it.
"I had not approved it because I thought it was too sensitive. But he wanted the publicity," Zhu said.
Read the full article: Earthquake works banned from Beijing art show
Does it really just boil down to sensitivity and publicity? What are the reprecussions of limiting the viewership of work? What would have happened had the work been shown?
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