New Delhi: OCAT Shanghai, an art gallery in the Chinese city of Shanghai, apologised for promoting an exhibit that ranked women’s photos from ‘prettiest’ to ‘ugliest’.
The art gallery also withdrew the exhibit, a video, and has been shut since 18 June.
According to a report in The Art Newspaper, there has been a sign on the museum door since Friday afternoon, stating (in Chinese): “Dear guests: As of 18 June OCAT Shanghai is closed temporarily. We apologise for any inconvenience.”
The video criticised by people across social media, especially on Chinese microblogging site Weibo, was by local artist Song Ta who had taken over eight hours of secret footage of 5,000 college women and ranked them in order of their “attractiveness”.
Song Ta titled the video ‘Uglier and Uglier’ in English and Jiaohua (Campus Flowers) in Chinese. A rank was mentioned under each of the 5,000 women’s photos.
People called the exhibit misogynistic and a fundamental violation of privacy.
A disturbing dose of Chinese contemporary art: Song Ta, a video artist, has a piece called "Uglier and Uglier" is in exhibition in OCAT Shanghai. This 7+ hrs long video displays secretly shot footage of college girls ranked from the "prettiest" to the "ugliest." pic.twitter.com/COtSWEF7Xa
— Afra Wang (@afrazhaowang) June 17, 2021
The museum issued an official statement Friday. “After receiving criticism from everyone, we immediately re-examined the content of the work and the artist’s explanation…We found that the concept of the work and its English title were disrespectful and offensive to women,” it said.
The same exhibit by Song Ta was also showcased in 2013 at a prominent art space in Beijing. It did not evoke any public outcry then.
“What kind of environmental forces are cultivating and condoning such shameless people?…The so-called ‘freedom of speech’ and ‘art creation’ should not be used as a fig leaf for the despicable,” Chinese film scholar Zhang Ling, who teaches at the State University of New York, said on Weibo.
A tweet by a user quoted Song Ta as having said about his ‘artwork’: “The number beneath represented her appearance ranking on this campus. I was on a campus randomly recording passing girls by my DV, then they are sorted according to how beautiful they are. Within this seven and more hours long (The museum open time) video you will see them show up accordingly from prettiest to the ugliest. So if you want to see the campus queen you have to go to the campus as early as possible. Otherwise, when the dusk comes, it will become a living hell in this place.”
According to the artist’s profile on different art websites, Song Ta lives and works in China’s Guangzhou, and his works are “rooted in his observations of everyday life and social reality”.
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