Tania Bruguera and Others Are Demanding Their Works Be Removed From the Aichi Triennale After a Censorship Controversy

Earlier this month, the
organizers of the 2019 Aichi Triennale in Japan abruptly closed one
of the event’s exhibitions over a controversy stemming from one divisive
sculpture. Now, a group of prominent artists are demanding that
their own works be removed from the triennial in solidarity with
the censored sculptors.  

The closed exhibition, titled “After ‘Freedom of Expression’?,” was shut down
just three days after it opened after curators received hundreds of complaints
about Statue of a Girl of Peace by Korean
artists Kim Seo-kyung
and Kim Eun-sung. The sculpture depicts a “comfort woman”—one of
many thousands of women sold into sexual slavery by the Japanese
military during World War II. 

Some protesters even threatened violence because of the
sculpture, such as one man who said he would bring a canister of gasoline to the Aichi
Prefecture Museum of Art, where the show was held, and burn it
down.  

Ten artists have now released an
open letter to the organizers of the Aichi Triennale expressing
frustration over the fact that “After ‘Freedom of Expression’?”
hasn’t yet reopened. The story was first reported
by ARTnews.

“As a public gesture of
solidarity with the censored artists, we demand that the organizers
temporarily suspend the exhibition of our artworks in the Triennale
while ‘After “Freedom of Expression”?’ remains closed to the
public,” the letter reads. “Through this action, we sincerely hope
that the organizers of the Aichi Triennale will reopen the section…
and continue with their valuable work without thwarting freedom of
expression by giving way to political intervention and
violence.”

The letter, released on
Wednesday, is signed by Tania Bruguera, Javier Téllez, Regina José
Galindo, Mónica Mayer, Pia Camil, Claudia Martínez Garay, Minouk
Lim, Reynier Leyva Novo, Park Chan-kyong, and Pedro Reyes. Reyes
also served as a curator for the Triennale.

Representatives from the Aichi
Triennale did not immediately respond to artnet News’s request for
comment.

The letter follows a
previous
statement, which was
issued on Facebook days after the show was closed and signed by 85
of the nearly 100 artists and collectives participating in the
Triennale. In it, the artists requested that the show be reopened
under proper security measures. 

“Normally an exhibition space is
meant to be an open, public site, but the closure of the exhibit
just three days after the Triennale opening has robbed people of
the opportunity to see the artworks and foreclosed any active
discussion of them,” the Facebook letter states.

Last week, the 59-year-old man
who allegedly threatened the Triennale with an arson attack was
arrested after authorities discovered security footage of him
sending the message, according to the Japan
Times. For many,
the threat evoked last month’s attack on the Kyoto Animation studio
in Japan, which caused the death of 35 people.

The post Tania Bruguera and Others Are Demanding Their Works
Be Removed From the Aichi Triennale After a Censorship
Controversy appeared first on artnet News.