Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, Aug. 11: The Bangkok Arts and Cultural Centre (BACC) has removed several works by Tibetan and other exiled artists from an international exhibition after reported pressure from Chinese authorities, drawing condemnation from artists who call it Beijing’s growing attempt to silence critics overseas.
The removed pieces were part of Constellation of Complicity: Visualising the Global Machinery of Authoritarian Solidarity, a 10-artist exhibition curated by the Myanmar Peace Museum. The show, which opened on July 24, explored state violence, authoritarian alliances, and grassroots resistance, featuring works by artists from Tibet, Hong Kong, Myanmar, and the Uyghur diaspora.
Among the removed pieces was trans Tibetan artist Tenzin Mingyur Paldron’s 12-minute conversational film Listen to Indigenous People, which explored the roots of a controversial viral 2023 video showing the Dalai Lama telling an Indian boy to “suck” his tongue, as well as footage of Tibetans holding Palestinian flags and demanding accountability for genocide. Other installations, including a Tibetan flag and works referencing China’s policies in Tibet, were also taken down.
According to curators, Chinese embassy staff in Bangkok, accompanied by officials from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), visited the exhibition within days of its opening and demanded its closure. Over the following week, the gallery was instructed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the BMA to remove references to “Tibet,” “Hong Kong,” and “Uyghur” from labels and wall texts, as well as to remove the names of certain artists. By July 31, multiple works had been taken down or altered.
“The name Tibet is politicized, and that includes Tibetan names,” Mingyur has said. “Who are museums for? They should be for the people, not for dictators of any ideology.”
“When museums are unfairly pressured like BACC has been, the people must speak up for the protection of the arts and artists. They must let the powers that be know this is unacceptable,” he has continued. “More importantly, they must send a message to censoring governments that these works will be seen, they will be heard, they will be discussed.”
The censorship escalated in August, with embassy representatives reportedly returning on August 6 to enforce compliance with China’s “One China” policy and request further removals. On August 11, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused the exhibition of promoting separatism and “distorting” its policies on Tibet, East Turkestan (Xinjiang), and Hong Kong, asserting that cultural exchanges should not be politicized.
Co-curator Sai, a Myanmar artist who organised the show, said the removed items included Tibetan and Uyghur flags and postcards depicting Chinese President Xi Jinping. Calling the incident “deeply ironic,” he noted that an exhibition about authoritarian repression was itself censored under political pressure. Sai has since fled Thailand over safety concerns.
In a statement, the BACC said it had “no choice but to make certain adjustments” due to pressure from the Chinese embassy, which it said was channelled through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its main supporter, the BMA. The centre acknowledged obscuring the names of Hong Kong, Tibetan, and Uyghur artists to avoid diplomatic tensions between Thailand and China.
2 Responses
This is the time of our century of humiliation. TIBET AND CHINA WERE COMPETING EMPIRES AND WHEN IT CAME TO WAR, TIBETANS HAVE CONQUERED CHINA AND IMPOSED A PUPPET AT THE OLD TANG CAPITAL CHAN’GAN IN MODERN DAY XIAN. THE DALAI LAMA VISITED THIS AREA DURING HIS VISIT TO CHINA IN 1954 AND WAS TOLD OF THE STORY BY A LOCAL MAN SAYING, “THE TIBETANS CAME AS FAR AS THIS PLACE”! We have signed a perpetual treaty with China in 822-823 between Tibetan emperor Tri-Ralpachen and Chinese emperor Mu Tsung of Tang. ACCORDING TO THE TREATY, TIBET AND CHINA SHALL ABIDE BY THE FRONTIERS OF WHICH THEY ARE NOW IN OCCUPATION. “ALL TO THE EAST IS THE COUNTRY OF GREAT CHINA, AND ALL TO THE WEST IS, WITHOUT QUESTION, THE COUNTRY OF GREAT TIBET. HENCEFORTH, ON NEITHER SIDE SHALL THERE BE WAGING WAR, NOR SEIZING OF TERRITORY” Today, we have been enslaved by communist China. If any Tibetan who feel smarted by reading this report, they should make a resolution to dedicate their life in fighting for the independence of Tibet because without independence, TIBET WILL NOT SURVIVE! THE CCP’S FINAL SOLUTION FOR TIBET IS EXTERMINATION OF THE TIBETANS AS A A RACE WITH A UNIQUE CULTURE, LANGUAGE, RELIGION AND IDENTITY! Their policy is exactly like that of Nazi Germany’s extermination of the Jews as a race. While Adolf Hitler used gas chambers to kill six million Jews, the CCP is going about to ERASE THE TIBETAN LANGUAGE, RELIGION AND CULTURE TO SUBSUME TIBET INTO THE CAULDRON OF HAN MELTING POT. The Manchu’s consisted of only two percent of the the population but they ruled China. They had their own language, culture and identity but today, they have been completely disappeared in communist China! It’s not that long ago when they were rulers. The Manchu Qing empire came to an end in 1910! The Chinese communists are stealthily working for the total eradication of Tibetan language, religion and culture! The one million Tibetan children forcibly removed from their homes to be indoctrinated into communist ideology, embracing Chinese language and culture is the CCP’s chosen technique of whole sale cultural eradication of Tibet and its people. The latest news from occupied Tibet is: Tibetan language will be banned from being taught in High Schools in occupied Tibet. The pretext for such a ban is “to equip the Tibetans to get better jobs” by concentrating in learning Chinese language! This is obviously a lame excuse. Nobody in India is banning a second language under the pretext of gaining proficiency in Hindi to get a better job! The real intention of the CCP is the suppression of Tibet and its civilisation that they so desperately want to efface for good in order to gain legitimacy in occupying Tibet for good! The attempts to remove not only the items but even Tibetan names from the exhibition in Bangkok shows the depth of the resolve the CCP puts to pursue their nefarious goal. Now, it’s not only the name of our nation (TIBET) is erased but even personnel names of individual Tibetan’s names have also become targets of the evil regime. However, don’t be upset! The Chinese themselves are being subjected to humiliation in Angola! The Chinese have invested heavily in Africa since the 1960s by donning the robe of anti-colonialism. The Africans were poor and they welcomed the sneaky Chinese communists. Today, communist China has ravaged Africa by plundering its resources and causing unimaginable environmental destruction owing to illegal mining without any benefit for the Africans. Angola has expelled all Chinese from the country and told them to leave within 24 hours! All Chinese shops, restaurants and business have been attacked, ransacked and looted! The most humiliating part is having a Chinese passport! Even though the CCP portrays power by conducting massive military parades, Chinese citizens are finding that having a Chinese passport is not a boon but a bane in Africa! Whenever, they show their passport while travelling, they charge extra money for the Chinese passport holders! One innocent Chinese complains thus: “we are told China is the most powerful country at home but when we go out, nobody shows respect for China”! THIS IS TRUE BECAUSE THE CCP IS A MORAL PIGMY!!!
Any form of art is the individual expression and it is uniquely gift to human being because we have a marvelous mind ,it is our birthrights and freedom, to suppress art is dehumanizing all human.