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October 22, 2021Brescia decides not to cancel the exhibition of Badiucao, a Chinese artist considered dissident in his country, despite the request of the Chinese embassy to cancel it. The exhibition by Badiucao, nicknamed the "Chinese Banksy", denounces the political repression in China as well as the censorship on the pandemic linked to Covid, two highly sensitive issues for Beijing.
Entitled "China (not) is nearby", the exhibition will be held from 13 November to 13 February in Brescia. Mayor Emilio Del Bono, on Friday at the Foglio, declared that he could not positively accept the request for cancellation of the Chinese embassy: the Italian-Chinese friendship, he said, "It is not in question", but he added, " I think it is important to show that you can be friends even by criticizing some positions ".
On twitter, on the other hand, the Deputy Mayor Laura Castelletti writes: "For us, art and freedom of expression are an essential combination". In a letter addressed to the Brescia municipality, as reported by the Giornale di Brescia, the cultural office of the Asian country complained that the works of the artist Badiucao contained "anti-Chinese lies". According to the embassy, these works "transfigure the facts and spread false information", mislead the Italian public and "endanger the friendly relations between China and Italy. In conclusion," profound discontent "was expressed with the request to cancel the exhibition.
Badiucao, who has lived in Australia for years, introduces himself on social networks as " a Sino-Australian artist persecuted by the CCP ", the Chinese Communist Party.
An episode, this, which has a precedent.
In fact, in the past, in October 2020, the Nantes history museum had received "a request from the Chinese central authorities to make certain words like Genghis Khan, empire and Mongol disappear from the exhibition".