Edit Censorship incident: Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World (exhibition)

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Censorship Incident Form

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This is an ongoing case:	no yes
Year:	Example: "1922" or "1500" BCE
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Grounds for censorship:	Copyright Explicit Sexuality Nudity Political/Economic/Social Opinion Religion Sexual/Gender Orientation Violence
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Medium:	Commercial Advertising Dance Design Electronic Media Film Video Installation Internet Literature Mixed Media Music Painting Performance Art Personal Opinion Photography Print Journalism Public Art Public Speech Radio Sculpture Television Textbook Theatre
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Description of Content:	In March 2017, the Guggenheim Museum, NY announced 'Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World,' a major exhibition of contemporary art from China spanning 1989 to 2008, on view from October 6, 2017 to January 7, 2018. According to the museum's press release, the exhibition is an interpretative survey of Chinese experimental art from "arguably the most transformative period of modern Chinese and recent world history" and the largest such survey of contemporary Chinese art ever to be organized in North America, with a concentration on the conceptualist art practices of two generations of artists. The exhibition examines how Chinese artists have been both critical observers and agents of China’s "emergence as a global presence and places their experiments firmly in a global art-historical context."
Description of Incident:	An article published on September 20, 2017 in the New York Times, “Where the Wild Things Are: China’s Art Dreams at the Guggenheim,” meant to preview this highly anticipated, art-historically important survey, detonated a lightening-fast response on social media. The three controversial works were: 1) 'Dogs That Cannot Touch Each Other,' a video documenting a 2003 performance-installation by Peng Yu and Sun Yuan, which involved pit bulls chained to treadmills. 2) Video documentation of 'A Case Study of Transference' (1994) by Xu Bing, where two pigs copulated in front of a live audience. 3) 'Theater of the World' (1993) by Huang Yong Ping, consisting of a cage trapping dozens of live reptiles and insects in what would inevitably be Darwinian combat. One day later, the Guggenheim received such a volume of complaints, it issued a public statement acknowledging concerns around 'Dogs That Cannot Touch Each Other.' A Change.org petition was circulated, demanding the offending works be removed, and received over 800,000 signatures.
Results of Incident:	On September 25, five days after the NYTimes article, the museum pulled three works from the show, citing “explicit and repeated threats of violence.” NCAC issued a statement criticizing the Museum for capitulating to threats of violence, followed by an Op-Ed.
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Guggenheim Museum Statements: [https://www.guggenheim.org/press-release/guggenheim-presents-art-and-china-after-1989-theater-of-the-world-opening-october-6-2017 Guggenheim Presents Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World Opening October 6, 2017. Largest Exhibition of Contemporary Art from China Spanning 1989 to 2008 Ever Mounted in North America], Guggenheim press release [https://www.guggenheim.org/press-release/statement-on-the-video-work-dogs-that-cannot-touch-each-other Guggenheim Statement on the video work “Dogs That Cannot Touch Each Other”], SEPTEMBER 21, 2017 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-vxuesH75w Video clip from “Dogs That Cannot Touch Each Other,”] staged by the artist-team Sun Yuan and Peng Yu in 2003 Op-Eds / Editorials / Statements: [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/13/opinion/editorials/the-guggenheim-surrenders-on-free-expression.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fopinion-editorials&_r=0 The Guggenheim Surrenders on Free Expression], By THE EDITORIAL BOARD, The New York Times, OCT. 13, 2017 [http://ncac.org/blog/threats-of-violence-are-chilling-our-public-sphere Threats of Violence are Chilling our Public Sphere], BY SVETLANA MINTCHEVA, NCAC Op-Ed, OCTOBER 6, 2017 [http://ncac.org/ncac-guggenheim-statement NCAC Statement], Sept 28, 2017 PRESS: [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/06/arts/design/guggenheim-museum-art-and-china-review.html ART REVIEW: From Innovation to Provocation, China’s Artists on a Global Path 查看简体中文版查看繁體中文版], By HOLLAND COTTER, OCT. 6, 2017 [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/02/guggenheim-internet-mob-withdrawing-artworks-online-hysteria?CMP=share_btn_tw By bowing to the braying internet mob, the Guggenheim forgot its purpose], Rupert Myers, Oct 2, 2017 [https://news.artnet.com/art-world/so-whats-really-going-on-with-that-disturbing-dog-video-at-the-guggenheim-1100417? Why the Guggenheim’s Controversial Dog Video Is Even More Disturbing Than You Think: Ok, what's really going on in this contested artwork, anyway?], Ben Davis, September 29, 2017 [https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/world/guggenheim-museum-in-new-york-pulls-artwork-after-animal-rights-threats-china-artists-tiananmen-square-aftermath-xvl30qbxp Guggenheim Museum in New York pulls artwork after animal rights threats], Sept 28, 2017 [https://www.artforum.com/news/id=71333 Artists Criticize Guggenheim Museum for Removing Works], September 27, 2017 [http://www.artnews.com/2017/09/27/bad-art-bad-ethics-bad-explanation-on-the-guggenheims-removal-of-artworks-from-art-and-china-after-1989-092717/ Bad Art, Bad Ethics, Bad Explanation: On the Guggenheim’s Removal of Artworks From ‘Art and China after 1989’], BY Stephen F. Eisenman, September 27, 2017 [https://news.artnet.com/art-world/ai-weiwei-guggenheim-animal-artwork-censorship-1097036 Ai Weiwei Defends the Guggenheim’s China Show Against Animal Rights Protests: The museum faces a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t scenario], Brian Boucher, September 27, 2017 [https://news.artnet.com/art-world/exhibiting-live-animal-art-1097795 Is PETA Today’s Most Feared Art Critic? How 4 Exhibitions Included Animal Art Without Getting Bitten], Brian Boucher, September 27, 2017 [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/26/arts/design/guggenheim-art-and-china-after-1989-animal-welfare.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fdesign&_r=0 Guggenheim Museum Is Criticized for Pulling Animal Artworks 查看简体中文版查看繁體中文版], By ROBIN POGREBIN and SOPAN DEB, SEPT. 26, 2017 [https://www.facebook.com/PENamerican/photos/a.10150192424389058.272779.38234604057/10154449495184058/?type=3&theater PEN America statement], September 26, 2017 [https://hyperallergic.com/402341/guggenheim-pulls-three-works-from-upcoming-show-after-outcry-over-animal-abuse/ Guggenheim Pulls Three Works from Upcoming Show After Outcry Over Animal Abuse: The works by Peng Yu and Sun Yuan, Huang Yong Ping, and Xu Bing were the focus of a petition that garnered more than 600,000 signatures in the past week], Benjamin Sutton, Sept 26, 2017 [https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/alexandra-munroe-theater-of-the-world-interview-pt-1-1095470 The Guggenheim’s Alexandra Munroe on Why ‘The Theater of the World’ Was Intended to Be Brutal: The curator explains the origins of the exhibition and the thinking behind its most controversial elements], Andrew Goldstein, Sept 26, 2017 [https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/guggenheim-pulls-controversial-animal-artworks-threats-violence-1095467 The Guggenheim Pulls Controversial Animal Artworks From Its China Show Over Threats of Violence: PETA had called on the museum to remove two of the works,] Sarah Cascone, Sept 26, 2017 [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/25/arts/design/guggenheim-dog-fighting-exhibit.html?mcubz=0 Guggenheim, Bowing to Animal-Rights Activists, Pulls Works From Show], By MATTHEW HAAG, SEPT. 25, 2017 [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/20/arts/design/guggenheim-art-and-china-after-1989.html Where the Wild Things Are: China’s Art Dreamers at the Guggenheim 查看简体中文版查看繁體中文版], By JANE PERLEZ, SEPT. 20, 2017

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