The incident at the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Centre (BACC) in August 2025 serves as a pointed example of transnational censorship in the arts, particularly involving Chinese government influence. The BACC, one of Thailand’s most prominent contemporary arts venues, hosted an exhibition titled "Constellation of Complicity: Visualising the Global Machinery of Authoritarian Solidarity". This exhibit aimed to critically explore how authoritarian regimes collaborate and reinforce each other's power, featuring multimedia works by artists in exile from Myanmar, Iran, Russia, Syria, Tibet, Uyghur diaspora, and Hong Kong.reuters+2
China's Intervention
Three days after the exhibit opened on July 24, Chinese Embassy officials, accompanied by representatives from Bangkok’s Metropolitan Administration (the primary funder of BACC), visited the gallery. They demanded the removal or censorship of materials focusing on Beijing's treatment of ethnic minorities—most notably Uyghur Muslims, Tibetans—as well as issues relating to Hong Kong. In particular:wikipedia+2
Multimedia works by Tibetan artist Tenzin Mingyur Paldron, and pieces by Uyghur filmmaker Mukaddas Mijit and the Hong Kong duo Clara Cheung & Gum Cheng Yee Man were either withdrawn or had references to “Hong Kong,” “Tibet,” and “Uyghur” redacted.
The names of these artists were blacked out on displays.
Flags representing Tibetan and Uyghur communities, and imagery critiquing Chinese policies, were also removed or obscured.
The Chinese officials cited the risk of provoking diplomatic tensions between Thailand and China, according to internal emails from the gallery.artreview+5
Gallery Response and Broader Context
Facing diplomatic pressure relayed through Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the city’s administration, BACC stated it had "no choice but to make certain modifications," going so far as to black out artist names and specific artwork details. The exhibition was allowed to continue only after significant censorship, including concealing all references to controversial China-related issues.aseandigest+4
Human rights advocates and artists, including curator Sai (a Myanmar dissident artist), condemned the move as tragically ironic—the exhibition itself was about authoritarian governments collaborating to suppress freedom, yet it became the victim of the very phenomenon it sought to expose. The incident sent a chilling signal to exiled artists and activists across Southeast Asia about the reach of Beijing’s political influence and its capacity to silence critics abroad, a practice widely referred to as transnational repression.yahoo+4
Significance
Thailand has, in recent decades, been considered a relatively safe haven for dissidents from authoritarian regimes throughout Asia. This episode highlights changing realities for regional civil society and artistic freedom, underscoring how international diplomatic interests and pressure from authoritarian governments can directly impact freedom of artistic expression—even beyond their borders.wikipedia+3
"Museums should serve the people, not the dictators of any ideology," said Tibetan artist Tenzin Mingyur Paldron, whose work was forcibly removed.tibetanreview+1
The BACC censorship incident is a stark illustration of how cultural institutions, even outside China, may be pressured to conform to foreign government demands—with serious implications for artistic freedom of expression and the autonomy of civil society.reuters+5
In August 2025, the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Centre—Thailand’s leading contemporary art venue—faced direct diplomatic pressure from Chinese officials to censor an exhibition on authoritarian solidarity. Names of exiled artists were blacked out, artworks altered, and political symbols removed.The incident is a stark reminder: authoritarian influence doesn’t stop at borders, and artistic freedom is increasingly at risk across Southeast Asia.
#ArtCensorship #FreeExpression #TransnationalRepression #HumanRights #Thailand #China #Uyghur #Tibet #HongKong #ArtActivism #FreedomOfSpeech #CulturalFreedom #GlobalPolitics
