Chinese embassy protests Warsaw exhibition of dissident artist Badiucao

The Chinese embassy has sought to prevent an upcoming exhibition in Warsaw of work by Chinese dissident artist Badiucao from taking place, including issuing an appeal to the Polish culture ministry, according to the gallery hosting the show.

The exhibition, which will open this Friday at the Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art and is financed by the culture ministry, will display over 70 of Badiucao’s works, including paintings, audio and neon installations.

Its title, Tell China’s Story Well, is an ironic reference to the name of President Xi Jinping’s public diplomacy strategy to promote official Chinese views abroad.

O ale i w Warszawie już na ulicach sporo @badiucao.
Właśnie terqz na Grochowie fotnęlam.
Mam nadzieję, że wystawa się odbędzie i poczeka do lipca tak bym mogła ją obejrzeć. pic.twitter.com/Fj4CURWB6X

— Sylwia Czubkowska (@sylvcz) June 9, 2023

Badiucao’s art critiques the actions of the Chinese Communist Party, such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, Uyghur internment camps, the treatment of protesters in Hong Kong, aggression in the South China Sea and against Taiwan, and the relationship between China and Russia in light of the war in Ukraine.

The promotional image for the exhibition is a painting depicting Xi eating human flesh, akin to Francisco Goya’s Saturn Devouring His Son.

The announcement of the exhibition on 6 June immediately drew a response from the Chinese authorities. Ujazdowski Castle revealed that a “high-ranking representative of the Chinese embassy” had visited the gallery “demanding that the exhibition be stopped.”

On social media, Badiucao himself posted pictures that he claimed showed the deputy head of mission from the Chinese embassy entering the museum for a second time to protest his exhibition.

The artist also reported that the museum’s website has been blocked in China since the announcement of the exhibit. That claim was confirmed by Ujazdowski Castle.

In a statement, the gallery condemned the actions of the embassy, which they described as “preventative censorship” and said had caused “concern and astonishment”.

They also revealed that the Chinese embassy had sent letters to Poland’s culture ministry demanding that it intervene. On Saturday, news organisation Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty published extracts from what it says is an email sent from the Chinese embassy to culture ministry officials on 7 June.

“We don’t want this kind of exhibition [that] undermines [the] China-Poland relationship to be held in Poland,” wrote the author, Wei Jiao, who described himself as the counsellor in charge of cultural affairs at the embassy, reports RFE/FL.

The email called the exhibition an attack against the image of “China and Chinese leaders”, which was hurtful towards the “Chinese people’s feelings”. It asked for a meeting to be arranged with senior ministry staff. There has been no public response or comment from the ministry.

In its statement, Ujazdowski Castle said that it “urges all [who are] committed to free speech and expression to support us and the artist in resisting this pressure by visiting the upcoming exhibition and by writing letters of support to the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland”.

Badiucao, who is based in Australia, has appealed to the Australian embassy in Warsaw for support and protection in response to the attempts to cancel his exhibition.

The Chinese embassy’s actions in Warsaw have been condemned by groups including Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Artists at Risk Connection (ARC), a project of PEN America.

In an interview with Polish state broadcaster TVP last week, the artist described attempts to censor his work and message as a “daily experience”. He revealed that he had chosen Poland as the location for his latest exhibit primarily due to the country’s shared experience of communism.

Badiucao told TVP that Poland’s support for Ukraine during the war, contrasted with China’s friendliness towards Russia, had also inspired him to host the exhibit in Warsaw.

Badiucao and his work are regularly targeted by the Chinese authorities. Similar attempts to block his exhibitions have occurred in Italy, the Czech Republic and Belgium.

Main image credit: Adrian Grycuk/Wikimedia Commons (under CC BY-SA 3.0 PL)

Anna Hackett

Anna Hackett is an assistant editor at Notes from Poland. She is a recent graduate of European Studies from Trinity College Dublin and has had previous journalistic experience with the Irish Independent News & Media group.