Italian city defies Beijing, opens exhibit by dissident artist

Artist Badiucao (right) speaks to the media at the opening of his exhibition in the Santa Giulia Museum, in Brescia, Saturday

A provocative exhibit by dissident Chinese artist Badiucao opened this weekend in the industrial northern Italian city of Brescia despite pressure from the Chinese embassy in Rome to cancel it.
A letter from the embassy included veiled economic threats, noting Italy’s trade with China, in a bid to prevent the first solo exhibit by Badiucao — the pseudonym used by the artist whose work takes aim at China’s policies and human rights record.
Brescia Mayor Emilio Del Bono “responded with delicacy and firmness,” said Elettra Stamboulis, curator of the exhibit at the city’s Museum of Santa Giulia.
“Of course we are always a little worried, not so much for the artist’s safety, but because we know there are more creepy ways to silence dissident artists,” she said.
After a previous attempt to stage a solo show in Hong Kong in 2018 was canceled under pressure, Badiucao said he is “proud and happy” that the Brescia exhibit is finally open to the public.
“Because my art is always focusing on human rights issues in China … it makes me almost the type of No. 1 enemy,’’ Badiucao said. “They hunt me down. They harass me, harass my families, threatening the people working with me constantly. So that is why, for me, it is really hard to actually having an exhibition in an established a gallery, a museum like this.”
The exhibition, which runs until Feb. 13, traces Badiucao’s artistic career from its start to most recent works created in response to the health crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. A former assistant to the Berlin-based Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei, Badiucau currently works in exile from Australia.
The artist kept his identity secret for many years, wearing masks during public appearances to protect his family members. The long-held secrecy drew comparisons to British graffiti artist Banksy, whose true identity remains shrouded in mystery.
But Badiucao said any comparison misses key points.
“If Banksy’s identity gets revealed he is not or she is not going to be hunted by the UK’s national security police, which in my case is totally different,” he said. “But also, I am really mad at Banksy, because he never does any artwork that criticizes the Chinese government.” MDT/AP