Making Connections by Michael Lebow

Making Connections by Michael Lebow https://padlet.com/mrlebow25/hg9zrxn7ke5q Understanding the controversy surrounding the "This is Africa" exhibit at Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan, China en-us 2018-11-19 15:28:40 UTC 2023-04-09 00:38:16 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Moderncam.png What happened? mrlebow25 https://padlet.com/mrlebow25/hg9zrxn7ke5q/wish/305971295 A little over a year ago in Wuhan, China, the Hubei Provincial Museum put on display an exhibit entitled “This is Africa”. The goal of the exhibit, as stated by photographer Yu Huiping, was to “explore connections between nature and man". To do such ‘exploring’ the photographer, in the section titled “one’s heart makes one's appearance”, juxtaposed two sets of photos, a native African animal and a native person of Africa making a similar facial expression. The exhibit was based on a Chinese proverb which translates to “outward appearance follows inner reality”. Over 100,000 Chinese tourists visited the popular installation, taking numerous photos of themselves but most were unaware of any disrespect the exhibit brought out. Despite the museum having good intentions to promote harmony and balance between humans and animals, their exhibit came off as tone deaf, which they recognized after western media outlets highlighted the issue.]]> 2018-11-19 15:35:11 UTC https://padlet.com/mrlebow25/hg9zrxn7ke5q/wish/305971295 mrlebow25 https://padlet.com/mrlebow25/hg9zrxn7ke5q/wish/305971605 2018-11-19 15:35:47 UTC https://padlet.com/mrlebow25/hg9zrxn7ke5q/wish/305971605 Public Response mrlebow25 https://padlet.com/mrlebow25/hg9zrxn7ke5q/wish/306717927 The backlash initially began when an exchange student from Nigeria shared the exhibit via Instagram. He tagged several major news outlets but went viral after a popular English-language website, Shanghaiist, featured it on their page. The story quickly gained attention with numerous foreign exchange students, who were studying in China at the time, reporting the controversy to their institutions demanding action.]]> 2018-11-21 12:56:04 UTC https://padlet.com/mrlebow25/hg9zrxn7ke5q/wish/306717927 mrlebow25 https://padlet.com/mrlebow25/hg9zrxn7ke5q/wish/306718647 2018-11-21 12:58:46 UTC https://padlet.com/mrlebow25/hg9zrxn7ke5q/wish/306718647 Museum Response mrlebow25 https://padlet.com/mrlebow25/hg9zrxn7ke5q/wish/306719011 The exhibit’s planner, Wang Yuejun, noted that in China, many of its proverbs reference how “animals are used for admiration and compliment and that comparisons between people and animals are often considered positive in the country.” He pointed to how Chinese have worshiped animal totems as well as in the Chinese zodiac system, one’s birth year is associated with a specific animal. The museum did pull the photographs from the controversial section of the exhibit “to show our goodwill and sincerity to our African friends”. Wang also added, in his defense of the photographer, that this exhibit is an attempt to “remind people that we shouldn’t forget where we come from”. Despite the museum realizing that this type of exhibit is offensive, the issue of “casual racism” is a common occurrence in China, often unbeknownst to its citizens.]]> 2018-11-21 13:00:10 UTC https://padlet.com/mrlebow25/hg9zrxn7ke5q/wish/306719011 Other Controversies in China mrlebow25 https://padlet.com/mrlebow25/hg9zrxn7ke5q/wish/306719252 China is rife with other examples of being tone-deaf in regards to racism and racist actions. One such recent example is China’s most popular chat app, WeChat, used English translate software that translated a Chinese phrase meaning “black foreigner” to the N-word. Another example was a laundry detergent ad depicting a black man covered in paint going into a washing machine but coming out as fresh, clean Asian man. China’s tone-deafness even extends to their news programs such as when Xinhua, the State-run Chinese news agency, ran a video about border clashes between China and India and depicted an Indian man with a thick accent, a turban, and fake hair in an attempt to represent a Sikh man.]]> 2018-11-21 13:01:02 UTC https://padlet.com/mrlebow25/hg9zrxn7ke5q/wish/306719252 What to Take Away mrlebow25 https://padlet.com/mrlebow25/hg9zrxn7ke5q/wish/306719454 While the museum is responsible for what they put on display, their exhibit is a product of Chinese cultural attitudes towards foreigners, albeit a naive one. Being such a mono-culture country, China is fighting an uphill battle when it comes to tolerance of outside cultures. Racism is not viewed as taboo like it is in Western cultures, nor does the government frame it as an issue. This is in part because China’s minority populations are so small, they often go unnoticed by the masses making it easy to ignore. Additionally, the government of China has taken little to no action to dissuade issues of domestic racism, which only furthers the beliefs held by of its citizens, many of whom do not even realize these exhibits or advertisements are offensive. This by no means excuses the museum's actions but demonstrates how China overall has a long road ahead to make diversity and inclusion a part of its institutions as well as how to change the attitudes and beliefs of its massive population.]]> 2018-11-21 13:01:45 UTC https://padlet.com/mrlebow25/hg9zrxn7ke5q/wish/306719454 Further Reading mrlebow25 https://padlet.com/mrlebow25/hg9zrxn7ke5q/wish/306720057 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/13/world/asia/china-racist-museum-exhibit.html

]]> 2018-11-21 13:04:01 UTC https://padlet.com/mrlebow25/hg9zrxn7ke5q/wish/306720057 mrlebow25 https://padlet.com/mrlebow25/hg9zrxn7ke5q/wish/306723778 2018-11-21 13:17:01 UTC https://padlet.com/mrlebow25/hg9zrxn7ke5q/wish/306723778 mrlebow25 https://padlet.com/mrlebow25/hg9zrxn7ke5q/wish/306723796 2018-11-21 13:17:04 UTC https://padlet.com/mrlebow25/hg9zrxn7ke5q/wish/306723796