Shanghai Pride announces suspension of operations shortly after opening exhibition

Arts

Qian Ruya, Fragile (2019-present). In her first interactive work, Ruya wears a mask sewn with soft mirrors and asks viewers to kiss her © The artist

Shanghai Pride announced that it would immediately suspend operations only days after opening of the 12th edition of Shanghais Pride Art Exhibition. Coming after a successful series of offline events in June, including parties and forums, the WeChat announcement titled “At the End of the Rainbow” skirted any mention of the cessations reasons, but it comes amidst increased official scrutiny of civil society in the mainland.

“Shanghai Pride regrets to announce that we are cancelling all upcoming activities and taking a break from scheduling any future events,” declared the post. “We love our community, and we are grateful for the experiences weve shared together. No matter what, we will always be proud—and you should be, too.”

Diana Schweinert (aka Michelle de Mâtisse), PRIDE—Then and Now © the artist

The exhibition, Perspectives: from the community and allies, featuring 17 emerging artists, will nevertheless run as originally planned until 6 September at the Bund-side clubhouse IdeaPod. Like previous editions it was selected via open call, and this year received around 100 submissions, according to Pride Arts director Kay Tsoi. The diverse selection includes a mix of Chinese, expatriate, and overseas artists, with a breadth extending to medium. Photography and sculpture join graphic and Pop Art and, Tsoi highlights, “Yang Yiliangs Paper Groom series incorporating Chinese folk art paper-cutting.” Along with Yangs romantic works, other standouts include Cao Xues digital paintings Until We Could abstractly illustrating Richard BlaRead More – Source

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