In early August, the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC) obscured the names of several artists in addition to removing and modifying multiple works in an ongoing group exhibition following pressure from the Chinese Embassy in Thailand. In an email to the participating artists, BACC staff explained that the alterations were made to avoid “diplomatic tensions between Thailand and China.” 

Titled “Constellation of Complicity: Visualising the Global Machinery of Authoritarian Solidarity” and curated by the Myanmar Peace Museum, the exhibition features artists from various regions across Asia examining state violence and transnational resistance.

Following a July 27 visit by Chinese embassy officials and Bangkok Metropolitan Administration representatives (BACC’s primary funder), the institution redacted the names of Hong Kong artists Clara Cheung and Gum Cheng Yee Man, Tibetan artist Tenzin Minguyur Paldron, and Uyghur artist Mukaddas Mijit. Their works were either taken down or partially concealed: Uyghur and Tibetan flags in Paldron’s mixed-media installation were blacked out, while a graphic by Liz Hee, which compared China’s treatment of Muslim populations with Israel’s, was removed.

Between July 30–31, the officials informed BACC that the presentation could only continue if all of Paldron’s video works, including his film Listen to Indigenous People (A Trans Tibetan Scholar & Survivor Speaks on the Dalai Lama) (2024), were taken down, along with any further materials depicting Chinese president Xi Jinping.

During another visit on August 6, the embassy officials demanded the removal of another flyer from Paldron’s installation and urged the center to adhere to the One China policy. Speaking with Hyperallergic, Paldron said he did not fault BACC’s handling of the situation, but emphasized that “when museums are unfairly pressured like BACC has been, the people must speak up for protection of the arts and artists. They must let the powers that be know this is unacceptable.”

In a statement to Reuters, Sai—a Myanmar artist and the show’s co-curator—said, “It is tragically ironic that an exhibition on authoritarian cooperation has been censored under authoritarian pressure.” 

Regarding these extensive changes, BACC maintained that it was doing all it could “to ensure the exhibition proceeds as planned while taking necessary steps to de-escalate the situation. Rather than removing any names, we will place a black tab over the affected entries—serving as a statement itself and leaving the interpretation open to the public.”