Gun Sculpture Censored

[Bar Sinister]

At an art exhibition in Vienna photos intended to compliment the famous gun sculpture have been removed apparently because of objections by the government of China. It seems that the economic influence of China now extends to being able to determine what people in Western democracies are allowed to view. What next; will the Chinese government be deciding what articles can be printed in Austrian newspapers and what programs can be watched on television? One would think that the Austrian authorities would have a bit more in the way of intestinal fortitude; instead they caved in to a single objection.

CBC News - Art & Design - Gun sculpture exhibit altered after complaint

 

[Colpy]

At an art exhibition in Vienna photos intended to compliment the famous gun sculpture have been removed apparently because of objections by the government of China. It seems that the economic influence of China now extends to being able to determine what people in Western democracies are allowed to view. What next; will the Chinese government be deciding what articles can be printed in Austrian newspapers and what programs can be watched on television? One would think that the Austrian authorities would have a bit more in the way of intestinal fortitude; instead they caved in to a single objection.

CBC News - Art & Design - Gun sculpture exhibit altered after complaint

Calling that pile of junk (literally) "art" is a bad joke.

Censoring it because the Peoples' Republic of China doesn't like it is completely outrageous!!!

And here is the kicker........the pictures that the Chinese found so offensive were of oppressed Tibetans.......it boggles the mind!

Mao said "Political power comes out of the barrel of a gun"........he was, of course, absolutely correct. That is why the people must always maintain the right to keep arms.

More to the point, that is why the Chinese people, and the Tibetan people, are not allowed to have guns.

 

[lone wolf]

How much of it was Chicom?

Figures they'd be touchy about Tibet.

 

[Bar Sinister]

Calling that pile of junk (literally) "art" is a bad joke.

Censoring it because the Peoples' Republic of China doesn't like it is completely outrageous!!!

And here is the kicker........the pictures that the Chinese found so offensive were of oppressed Tibetans.......it boggles the mind!

Mao said "Political power comes out of the barrel of a gun"........he was, of course, absolutely correct. That is why the people must always maintain the right to keep arms.

More to the point, that is why the Chinese people, and the Tibetan people, are not allowed to have guns.

I believe you are misreading the issue here. It has nothing to do with guns; it is an issue of whether one nation (China) can censor another nation's art exhibits. In this case it appears that it can.

 

[Colpy]

I believe you are misreading the issue here. It has nothing to do with guns; it is an issue of whether one nation (China) can censor another nation's art exhibits. In this case it appears that it can.

Well, I wouldn't say it has nothing to do with guns........but you are correct, the main issue is China's belief that the world must bend over backwards to avoid anything that might make China uncomfortable....

Or rather, the main issue is the west's weakness, our inability to stand for anything, our willingness to suppress our greatest achievements in human rights to avoid causing some discomfort among the fascists, the enemies of liberty.....be they Chinese or Islamic.

Outrageous.

 

[Dexter Sinister]

I believe you are misreading the issue here. It has nothing to do with guns; it is an issue of whether one nation (China) can censor another nation's art exhibits. In this case it appears that it can.

I think that's misreading it too. China didn't do the censoring, it just complained, and should have been told to suck it up, that's not how things work in a free country. The cowards who decided to take down part of the exhibit in response to the complaint did the censoring.

 

[AnnaG]

I think that's misreading it too. China didn't do the censoring, it just complained, and should have been told to suck it up, that's not how things work in a free country. The cowards who decided to take down part of the exhibit in response to the complaint did the censoring.

That's my read on it, too.
And art is largely subjective. For instance: some people call hiphop, music. I call it noise art.

 

[Bar Sinister]

I think that's misreading it too. China didn't do the censoring, it just complained, and should have been told to suck it up, that's not how things work in a free country. The cowards who decided to take down part of the exhibit in response to the complaint did the censoring.

Good point. China seems ultrasensitive to any outside criticism. Of course that is not surprising considering it does not allow any internal criticism.