Gwangju Biennale accused of censoring pavilion title
The Taiwanese participants as well as Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture have called the naming change an act of ‘political censorship’
Main venue of Gwangju Biennale. Photo: By Kgw1226 / CC BY-SA 4.0
The Gwangju Biennale, slated to open on 5 September, have been accused of censorship over pavilion naming.
The dispute concerns the Taiwanese participants of the biennial. Earlier this month promotional materials of the biennial listed the Taiwanese participation under ‘NTMoFA Pavilion’ after the organising institution instead of ‘Taiwan Pavilion’. Subsequently the pavilion’s 10 artists and curators, as well as Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture, have issued several statement calling the change an act of ‘political censorship’.
The organisers of the Gwangju Biennale, however, have said they consider the listing an administrative matter. According to a response issued by the biennial, NTMoFA signed the exhibition agreement as an institutional participant rather than a national one. ‘Posters and promotional materials use either the country name or the institutional name, according to the type of participant,’ the statement says.
‘Gwangju Biennale has not intervened in, or censored, exhibition planning or content.’
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