After two calls with my artist throughout the week, the progress on the art book for this show has been paused.
On the first call, my artist informed me that the text could not be finalised yet since it had to go through verification by some authorities in China to be exhibited or published. I was told that some of the basic terms describing the insects (which is the main subject of the game, the gallery specifically required to not have human characters in it since it’s interactive) have been too ‘feminist’ or ‘causing gender opposition’. This either needs to be changed or can not be published. Although I knew the sensitivity of many topics in China, I was still generally surprised about the art censorship in China. After the call, I can’t stop thinking and reflecting on the Chinese art environment and how it is affecting artists. I have always heard similar issues, but it still feels different when a project is working on is facing the same issue and the seriousness of it has bypassed freedom of speech. This leads to thoughts of my identity and the possibility of even being an artist in my home country. It also rais the thought about how many sacrifices and alterations artists have to make in order to show their work in China, is the work being revised even the same work the artist trying to convey?
We thought the composting process would just require more time, however in the second call, I was informed that the gallery had decided to only use their art guide since it’s more unified for all the artists and exhibitions in the space, where they will be composing and writing all the required information. However, my artist and I have decided to push this art book slightly back for the Shanghai exhibition, so it will be re-edited and become a larger collection of all of her works. Although my work has not been completely useless and will be continued, I still got a clearer idea of how many procedures artists have to go through to have a complete show put up. This is also the first time I’m assisting an artist showing in China, the system is considerably more complicated and rigorous.
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