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Artistic freedom in Hong Kong: self-censorship, culture of fear growing, creatives say
- A number of politically oriented artists in Hong Kong are turning to activism to ward off threats to their freedom of speech
- But others have confidence in artists’ ability to express themselves
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Wen Yau’s eyes were covered with a blindfold made of the China flag. Slowly, carefully, she inched her way forward with one hand outstretched, feeling her way through space. In the other hand she held a blank sign – a silent protest against self-censorship.
She had performed a similar piece back in 2014 during the Occupy Central mass protest, but felt compelled to blind herself once again for others to see.
Wen Yau was among a group of like-minded artists, all holding blank signs, who recently gathered at Tai Kwun, a prison-turned-arts-venue in Hong Kong’s Central district. They were there to express their discontent with two events that had transpired earlier this month: the cancellation of Chinese dissident artist Badiucao’s art show at the venue, and Tai Kwun’s initial ban on hosting talks by author Ma Jian, another Chinese dissident, before an abrupt about-face.
Wen Yau says that a general feeling of self-censorship is growing in the city’s cultural scene and is akin to Taiwan’s “white terror” period of political suppression that lasted for 38 years until 1987.
“It is something that is like a ghost or spirit that is haunting you. You cannot really see or touch it. Because it is intangible, you really feel scared,” she says.
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