Rampant Censorship at the international fair of contemporary art in Shanghai

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Internet-magazine "China Today", 13.09
Matilda Bonacieux

The largest fair of contemporary art in Asia this year were heavily censored. Three of banned topics: Mao's Cultural revoluyuiya, nudity.

French gallery owner Albert Benhamou (which is present every year at Art Moscow), beside himself with rage: 9 pieces from his collection to the international fair of contemporary art ShContemporary, held in Shanghai from September 10 to 13, are prohibited.

"Before the opening came a commission consisting of the organizers of fairs and 4-officials. They censored 9 works - 3 sculptures, 5 photos and 1 picture. And while they were extremely aggressive, they threatened that they will bring us into the" black list "- says Mr. Benhamou.

Among the prohibited activities - large canvas Zhao Shuo, which represented one of the famous terra cotta soldiers, dancing with the statue of Liberty, 2 large statue of Mao in the flames of Chinese sculptor Liu Boin, and the Gao brothers' sculpture depicting a naked man (it is not even Mao simply an anonymous naked! "- exclaims the indignant gallerist).

One of the brothers, sculptors, Gao Zhen, explained that the ban was not surprised the Chinese authorities to show their work, as well as in the past year, suffered the same fate 2 student works submitted to the Italian gallery Bovart at an international exhibition in Beijing.

In previewing the exhibition fair representatives of the authorities is not unusual - in China this rule. However, it should be noted that the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Shanghai in particular cleared this year at Shanghai fair (which are 140 galleries from 26 countries), prohibiting the display of all the works, svyaschannyh even remotely with Mao and the Cultural revolyuschiey, as well as all izobdrazheniya nudity.

German gallerist Michael Schultz was forced to withdraw from hanging black and white picture of the artist Juan Hye depicting portraits of Mao, elongated in length.
"Last year we had a great work of the same artist with a portrait of Mao, and we were able to put it" - a gallery owner said in an interview with British magazine Art Review. "This year, the authorities are showing a greater severity, one must assume that it is related to the Tibet issue. Before the Olympics, I thought that China was called, but now it seems to me that it was closed even more tightly than before."

French gallery owners confirm that this year the authorities "screwed nuts"

Expect from the censors explanation meaningless, so we do not know why the censored 2 tattooed pigs, submitted by Louis Vyuittonom.