Guangzhou denies removing artworks for ethical reasons
Global Times
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Germany-based artist Bernd Lintermann expresses his views on digitization through "Overlay: the art of Numbers" at the exhibition. (Photo: Coutesy of Guangzhou Triennial)

The Sixth Guangzhou Triennial on Thursday denied taking down some artworks due to their connection with ethical implications of biotechnology, saying that the move was based on the exhibition's arrangement. 


The New York Times reported on December 14 that some works, which raise questions about the social and ethical implications of artificial intelligence and biotechnology, were abruptly pulled from the coming Guangzhou Triennial "on the orders of cultural authorities of South China's Guangdong Province." 


The report said the works and artists are from Europe, Australia and the US. One of the works pulled off from the show was "T3511," by Heather Dewey-Hagborg, a US artist. 


The report suggested that the move was related to the revelation last month that Chinese scientist He Jiankui created the world's first genetically edited babies. 


A public relations department employee surnamed Liang at the Guangzhou Triennial denied the report's claims. 


Liang told the Global Times on Thursday that the works were taken down not because of its contents, but  "the exhibition arrangement concerns." 


According to the New York Times report, "T3511," a four-channel video, tells the fictional story of a biohacker who becomes obsessed with an anonymous donor whose saliva she purchases online. 


By analyzing the DNA in the saliva and using a genealogy website, the biohacker is able to identify the anonymous donor, it reported. 


This year's Guangzhou Triennial is themed "Sincere thinking: Accelerating the future" and nearly 50 artists from 15 countries are participating in the exhibition, read a statement Liang sent to the Global Times.

 
The statement said the exhibition consists of three parts: the art in digital, the evolution of human and non-human and the art of the machine. 


Since it opened to the public in 1997, the Guangdong Museum of Art in Guangzhou has been promoting the research and presentation of Chinese art of modern and contemporary periods. 


The museum initiated the Guangzhou Triennial, with its first edition in 2002, according to the exhibition's website.