Eugene Tang reports in Bloomberg that some art galleries in Beijing are being forced by censors to delay politically sensitive shows and shows featuring foreign artists until after the Olympics:
Galleri Faurschou said it postponed this weekend’s show of Warhol’s art because censors deemed it inappropriate to exhibit foreign works during China’s biggest public event. Xin Beijing Art Gallery said it scrapped a weekend display of Ma Baozhong’s work because censors found fault with his oil paintings of the Dalai Lama and former president Jiang Zemin.
“There was a view at the cultural ministry that with more than 40 heads of states visiting Beijing during the Olympics, it’d be better to show works by Chinese artists,” Faurschou’s director Kai Heinze said by phone today.