Questions Follow Closing of Beijing Art Show on Violence Against Women:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/03/world/asia/questions-follow-closing-of-beijing-art-show-on-violence-against-women.html?ref=topics
On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, an art exhibition, which was to be the first in which men and women artists were equally represented in China, never opened.
Reading about this gave me a strange mix of feelings. On one hand, I felt sad because I know how important it is for us to speak about these issues. On the other hand, I felt hopeful because even though they were denied access into the building, these artists persevered and displayed their creations out in the cold anyway. One artist, Xiao Lu, began to create new art out of cigarettes in the snow.
It was interesting that it wasn't the government who shut down the exhibition, but the gallery itself. It was passed off as being a misunderstanding and they even said that there wasn't enough public interest for it to be opened. Cui Guangxia, the male curator, said that the higher authorities thought it would be too crowded and risky. Many excuses were made, none of which seem to make much sense at all and I couldn't help but wonder if it really was accidental.
There's been a history of silencing victims of abuse. If it ever comes out that the exhibition was shut down in order to perpetuate this silence and "not make waves", so to speak, it would come as no surprise.
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