The review titled "This Is Africa". Portraits of Africans couples with animal portraits. The author is building magnate Yu Huiping.
Wuhan (AsiaNews / Agencies) - This week in China, a museum cancelled an exhibition featuring pictures of African-portrayed alongside African animals, stirring up protests and racist accusations.
The exhibition, entitled This Is Africa, took place at the Provincial Museum of Hubei, in Wuhan City. On display there were a series of diptychs [pictures divided into two distinct images], each containing a picture of an African person and the face of an animal. In a work of particular note, a child with open mouth was paired with a gorilla (photo), while other works included baboons and cheetahs.
The curator stated that the exhibition was canceled following complaints from numerous Africans, some of whom live in China. All photographs were taken by Yu Huiping, a building magnate who has traveled to Africa more than 20 times. He has already won several awards for his work and is vice president of the Hubei Association of Photographers.
Wang Yuejun, one of the curators of the show, said animal comparisons are considered a compliment in Chinese culture, as is the case with zodiac signs. "The public is mainly Chinese," Wang said in a statement. "The museum understands that images may have offended our African friends. They have been removed as a sign of respect for their complaints, "concluded Wang.