China again tries to have an exhibition in Badiucao, Poland, canceled. Unsuccessfully

Here we go again: China is again trying to press a European country to cancel an exhibition by Badiucao, an artist unwelcome in Beijing (read a lengthy interview with Badiucao here). He had already tried this in 2021, when the Chinese embassy pressured Brescia to cancel the exhibition China (not) is Near, the artist’s first solo show in Europe, which was then regularly held (from November 13, 2021 to February 13, 2022) at the Santa Giulia Museum, as the city objected (the embassy had sent a letter to Mayor Emilio Del Bono complaining about the organization of the event). Later China had tried to have another Badiucao exhibition scheduled at the DOX Center for Contemporary Art in Prague canceled, also unsuccessfully there: exhibition regularly open from May 13 to September 18, 2022.

Now it is Poland’s turn: June 16 will indeed see the opening at the Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw of the exhibition Tell China’s Story Well, Badiucao’s institutional debut in the country, featuring some 70 works, including several previously unseen ones, to speak mainly about the suppression of free of speech in the Asian country, with a narrative that touches on some of the milestones in the history of dissent in China, such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, the 2019 Hong Kong protests, and the rebellions against restrictions on Covid. And here again we are back to the usual script, with the Chinese Embassy in Poland attempting to prevent the opening of the exhibition: in fact, the museum reports that a high-ranking representative of the embassy has visited Ujazdowski Castle asking for the exhibition to be halted, and the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage has also reportedly received letters from the institute asking for what is effectively censorship of the museum’s programming. Not only that: the Ujazdowski Castle website has been blocked in China by the country’s authorities.

The exhibition, of course, will take place: actions such as these serve in fact only to make the artist more famous and bring more audiences to the exhibition. Firm is the museum’s response, “We read the above actions as acts of preventive censorship, which we strongly oppose . We call on all those who are committed to freedom of speech and expression to support us and the artist in resisting this pressure by visiting the upcoming exhibition and writing letters of support to the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.” In short, again Badiucao’s exhibition will be held regularly and the Polish public will be able to get to know the dissident artist’s works up close and personal without any problems.

Image: Badiucao, Xi’s going on a bear

China again tries to have an exhibition in Badiucao, Poland, canceled. Unsuccessfully

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