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'''Badiucao''' ({{zh|first=s|s=巴丢草|t=巴丟草|p=Bādiūcǎo}})<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/chinese-cartoonist-badiucao-unmasks-beijing-threats-003530232.html|title=Chinese cartoonist Badiucao unmasks after Beijing threats|last=|first=|date=|website=News.yahoo.com|publisher=[[Agence France-Presse]]|language=en-US|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608193709/https://news.yahoo.com/chinese-cartoonist-badiucao-unmasks-beijing-threats-003530232.html |archive-date=2019-06-08 |access-date=2019-09-12}}</ref> is a Chinese political cartoonist, artist and rights activist based in Australia. He is regarded as one of China's most prolific and well-known political cartoonists.<ref name="osu.edu">{{cite web|url=https://u.osu.edu/mclc/2016/02/05/badiucao-e-book/|title=Badiucao e-book|date=5 February 2016|website=U.osu.edu}}</ref> He adopted his pen-name to protect his identity.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/drive/chinese-cartoonist-badiucao/7190358|title=Chinese cartoonist Badiucao uses humour to fight the 'Great Firewall'|date=22 February 2016|website=Abc.net.au}}</ref>
'''Badiucao''' ({{zh|first=s|s=巴丢草|t=巴丟草|p=Bādiūcǎo}})<ref>{{harvnb|Philipson|2019}}</ref> is a Chinese Australian<ref name="CNN1">{{harvnb|Griffiths|2019}}: "In 2009, Badiucao moved to Australia, where he has since become a citizen"</ref> political cartoonist, artist and rights activist based in Australia. He is regarded as one of China's most prolific and well-known political cartoonists.<ref name="osu.edu">{{cite web|url=https://u.osu.edu/mclc/2016/02/05/badiucao-e-book/|title=Badiucao e-book|date=5 February 2016|website=U.osu.edu}}</ref> He adopted his pen-name to protect his identity.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/drive/chinese-cartoonist-badiucao/7190358|title=Chinese cartoonist Badiucao uses humour to fight the 'Great Firewall'|date=22 February 2016|website=Abc.net.au}}</ref>


== Early life and education ==
==Biography==
Badiucao was born in 1986 and raised in urban [[Shanghai]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Butler |first=Gavin |date=2019-10-28 |title=China’s Most Controversial Cartoonist Fears He Could Disappear at Any Moment |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/ne85p7/controversial-chinese-australian-artist-badiucao-fears-disappearing-at-any-moment |access-date=2024-03-08 |website=Vice |language=en}}</ref> His paternal grandfather was a pioneer filmmaker, who was persecuted after [[History of the People's Republic of China (1949–1976)|the communists came to power]], sent to [[laogai]] farms in [[Qinghai]] during the [[Anti-Rightist Campaign]], and starved to death. A few years later, his father became an orphan when his grandmother died in poverty on [[Chinese New Year's Eve]]. His father grew up with the help of neighbours and strived for university education, but was denied admission because of family ties.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/12/ten-question-badiucao-巴丢草/|title=Ten Questions to Cartoonist Badiucao|website=[[China Digital Times]]|date=5 December 2013 |access-date=2019-09-12}}</ref>
===Early life===
Badiucao was born in 1986 and raised in urban [[Shanghai]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Butler |first=Gavin |date=2019-10-28 |title=China’s Most Controversial Cartoonist Fears He Could Disappear at Any Moment |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/ne85p7/controversial-chinese-australian-artist-badiucao-fears-disappearing-at-any-moment |access-date=2024-03-08 |website=Vice |language=en}}</ref> His paternal grandfather was a pioneer filmmaker, who was persecuted after [[History of the People's Republic of China (1949–1976)|the communists came to power]], sent to [[laogai]] farms in [[Qinghai]] during the [[Anti-Rightist Campaign]], and starved to death. A few years later, his father became an orphan when his grandmother died in poverty on [[Chinese New Year's Eve]]. His father grew up with the help of neighbours and strived for university education, but was denied admission because of family ties.<ref>{{harvnb|Beach|2013}}: "My grandfather was the first generation of Chinese filmmakers, and was persecuted after the founding of the People’s Republic of China and sent to a farm for re-education through labor in Qinghai during the anti-Rightist campaign. Finally he starved to death in a strange land when my father was just a child. A few years later, my grandmother died of illness on New Year’s Eve, and my father became an orphan. Fortunately, his neighbors helped him. When he grew up he worked hard to apply to college, but because of his family background he lost his opportunity for admission"</ref>


Badiucao had no formal training in art while in China. He studied law at the [[East China University of Political Science and Law]]. He and his dorm-mates accidentally watched the documentary [[The Gate of Heavenly Peace (film)|The Gate of Heavenly Peace]] after it was hidden in a [[Copyright infringement|pirated]] Taiwanese drama. Disillusioned with China, he moved to Australia to study in 2009. He worked as a kindergarten teacher for many years.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Griffiths |first1=James |title='I'm not backing down this time': Chinese dissident artist Badiucao reveals his identity |url=https://www.cnn.com/style/article/badiucao-documentary-reveals-identity-intl/index.html |access-date=14 December 2020 |website=Cnn.com|date=5 June 2019}}</ref> His first political cartoon was about the [[Wenzhou train collision]] in 2011.
===Education===
Badiucao had no formal training in art while in China.<ref name="CDT">{{harvnb|Beach|2013}}: "My first drawing was about the 2011 Wenzhou high-speed train crash. Before I started drawing cartoons, I had no formal art training."</ref> He studied law at the [[East China University of Political Science and Law]]. He and his dorm-mates accidentally watched the documentary [[The Gate of Heavenly Peace (film)|The Gate of Heavenly Peace]] after it was hidden in a [[Copyright infringement|pirated]] Taiwanese drama. Disillusioned with China, he moved to Australia to study in 2009, becoming a citizen later.<ref name=CNN1/><ref>{{harvnb|Philipson |2019}}: "Unbeknown to them, the file had "The Gate of Heavenly Peace" -- a detailed documentary about the 1989 crackdown on Tiananmen square protesters [...] Haunted by this new knowledge [...] he left for Australia to begin a career satirising political suppression."</ref> He worked as a kindergarten teacher for many years.<ref>{{harvnb|Beach|2013}}: "My current job [2013] is a kindergarten teacher."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Philipson |2019}}: "After a sidestep into teaching at a kindergarten"</ref>


According to a 2013 interview, Badiucao admired three other Chinese political cartoonists at the time—[[Hexie Farm]], [[Rebel Pepper]] and [[Kuang Biao]].<ref name=":1" />
===Career===
Badiucao first political cartoon, published in 2011, was about the [[Wenzhou train collision]].<ref name=CDT/>
 
His works had been published in [[BBC]], [[CNN]], [[China Digital Times]] and [[Hong Kong Free Press]]; and also had been used by [[Amnesty International]] and [[Freedom House]].<ref name=CV>{{Cite web |url= https://www.badiucao.com/bio |title= Bio & Curriculum Vitae |author= Badiucao |date= |website= Badiucao Personal Site |access-date= 5 December 2024}}</ref><ref name=HKFP>{{cite news |last= Wong |first= Rachel |date= 26 September 2020 |title= Badiucao wins 2020 Havel Prize for political satire cartoons |url= https://hongkongfp.com/2020/09/26/in-pictures-chinese-australian-artist-badiucao-wins-2020-havel-prize-for-political-satire-cartoons/ |work= [[Hong Kong Free Press]] |location= Kennedy Town, Hong Kong |access-date= 6 December 2024|quote=Chinese-Australian satirical cartoonist Badiucao has won the 2020 Havel Prize for his creative artwork. His work – often featured by HKFP – takes aim at the Chinese Communist Party and often expresses support for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|McCabe|2016}}: "A contributing artist for China Digital Times, his work has been used by Amnesty International, Freedom House, BBC, and CNN and has been exhibited around the world."</ref>
 
Badiucao's works have also featured exhibitions in [[United States|US]], [[Australia]], and [[Italy]].<ref name=CV/>
 
According to a 2013 interview, Badiucao admired three other Chinese political cartoonists at the time—[[Hexie Farm]], [[Rebel Pepper]] and [[Kuang Biao]].<ref>{{harvnb|Beach|2013}}: "The cartoonists I admire are Hexie Farm, Biantai Lajiao (Rebel Pepper), and Kuang Biao."</ref>
 
===End of anonymity===
Until June 2019, Badiucao wore a mask at public events to maintain as much anonymity as possible.<ref name="AFP1">{{harvnb|Philipson |2019}}: "Now there is little reason to hide who he really is, he told AFP, and has abandoned the full face masks he wore at public appearances."</ref>
 
According to Badiucao, the Chinese regime may have identified him after a fellow dissident posted on [[Twitter|X]] that he worked as an assistant to Chinese artist and dissident [[Ai Weiwei]], which linked him to him.<ref>{{harvnb|Philipson |2019}}: "But they were able to piece together his identity after a fellow dissident revealed on Twitter he was working as Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's assistant in Berlin."</ref>
 
In June 2019, Badiucao made his face public in a documentary titled “China’s Artful Dissident,”<ref>{{harvnb|O'Neil|2024}}: When China’s Artful Dissident aired, it was the first time I’d shown my face in public, a huge step for me.</ref> as well as personal details about his life (such as his age, professional degree, and university he graduated from) because after Chinese authorities had identified him, his relatives were threatened and he no longer had a reason to remain anonymous.<ref name="AFP2">{{harvnb|Philipson |2019}}: "But three days before the Hong Kong opening, Badiucao said he was contacted by his family to say relatives in China had been taken by police for questioning." [...] "They got told I'm having this exhibition in Hong Kong and the message from the police is pretty clear: they want me to shut down everything."</ref> As Badiucao reported to [[Agence France-Presse]], the harassment of his relatives could now be publicly exposed after his anonymity ended.<ref name=AFP1/>


==Style and approach==
==Style and approach==
Badiucao utilizes satire and pop culture references to convey his message. He often manipulates archetypal images from Communist Party propaganda to make subversive political statements.<ref name="osu.edu"/> His work has been used or published by [[Amnesty International]], [[Freedom House]], [[BBC]], [[CNN]] and [[China Digital Times]], and has been exhibited around the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cbldf.org/2016/02/watching-big-brotherchinese-cartoonist-watches-back/|title=Watching Big Brother: Chinese Cartoonist Watches Back - Comic Book Legal Defense Fund|website=Cbldf.org|date=11 February 2016 }}</ref>
Badiucao utilizes satire and pop culture references to convey his message. He often manipulates archetypal images from Communist Party propaganda to make subversive political statements.<ref name="osu.edu"/>  


He asserts that the government authorities in China are very concerned that their suppression of human rights activism is attracting attention from international media.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cartoonistsrights.org/2016/02/|title=February - 2016 - CARTOONISTS RIGHTS|website=Cartoonistsrights.org|access-date=2016-06-02|archive-date=2022-11-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122130057/http://cartoonistsrights.org/2016/02/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
He asserts that the government authorities in China are very concerned that their suppression of human rights activism is attracting attention from international media.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cartoonistsrights.org/2016/02/|title=February - 2016 - CARTOONISTS RIGHTS|website=Cartoonistsrights.org|access-date=2016-06-02|archive-date=2022-11-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122130057/http://cartoonistsrights.org/2016/02/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
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Copies of the posters put up anonymously at [[George Washington University]] in February 2022 were reported to police and removed, with Chinese student organizations claiming they "incited racial hatred and ethnic tensions."<ref name=":3" /> Shortly afterwards, GWU President [[Mark S. Wrighton|Mark Wrighton]] issued a statement, saying "Upon full understanding, I do not view these posters as racist; they are political statements. There is no university investigation underway, and the university will not take any action against the students who displayed the poster."<ref name=":3" /> Regarding the art, Badiucao told Axios, "My art is always targeting the [[Chinese Communist Party]], never the Chinese suffering from this regime."<ref name=":3" />
Copies of the posters put up anonymously at [[George Washington University]] in February 2022 were reported to police and removed, with Chinese student organizations claiming they "incited racial hatred and ethnic tensions."<ref name=":3" /> Shortly afterwards, GWU President [[Mark S. Wrighton|Mark Wrighton]] issued a statement, saying "Upon full understanding, I do not view these posters as racist; they are political statements. There is no university investigation underway, and the university will not take any action against the students who displayed the poster."<ref name=":3" /> Regarding the art, Badiucao told Axios, "My art is always targeting the [[Chinese Communist Party]], never the Chinese suffering from this regime."<ref name=":3" />
==Political persecution and harassment==
===Online harassment===
In 2016, Badiucao revealed that he had been the target of “large-scale” and systematized online attacks on two occasions, apparently with the intention of contaminating search results for your person or work,<ref>{{harvnb|McCabe|2016}}: "“In recent years, I have been subjected to large-scale Internet attacks twice,” [...] “[T]these attacks are not from individuals, but are organized systematically. The goal of this kind of attack is not just to threaten me, but possibly to pollute search results for ‘badiucao,’ and to block the visibility of my cartoons online.”"</ref> as well as to intimidate him.<ref>{{harvnb|McCabe|2016}}: "Although the threats initially worked and Badiucao was afraid,"</ref>
===Threats to family and exhibition cancelation===
By November 2018, Badiucao was preparing his first solo exposition in [[Hong Kong]] under the title "Black comedy for Hong Kong, China and the world",<ref>{{harvnb|Philipson|2019}}: "Badiucao's first solo international exhibition and his first in a Chinese territory was scheduled for November last year in Hong Kong. Billed as a "black comedy for Hong Kong, China and the world""</ref> but he had to cancel it after relatives informed him that they had been threatened by Chinese authorities.<ref name=AFP2/>
===Following in public spaces===
Following the release of the documentary “China’s Artful Dissident” in June 2019, Badiucao reported an incident in which four Asian men boarded a bus that he usually takes home and sat in separate seats around him. The incident caught his attention since there were almost no Asians in the suburb where he lived. Noticing that some of the men were wearing [[In-ear monitor|wireless earpieces]], he decided to get off the bus early and the group of men followed him even when Badiucao retraced his steps. He then entered a supermarket where the group waited for him outside and then left after about 45 minutes.<ref>{{harvnb|O'Neil|2024}}: I live in a suburb where there are not a lot of Chinese or Asian people. Right after the documentary aired, four middle-aged Asian men, all wearing matching Bluetooth earpieces, sat around me in a bus on the way home. I jumped off the bus at an earlier stop. The earpiece quartet followed. I walked one way for a while, then did a 180-degree turn and walked back into a supermarket, staying inside for 45 minutes until they left.</ref>
===Cancellation attempts in Europe===
====Italy====
From November 2021 to February 2022, Badiucao presented the exhibition “China (non) é vicina” (“China is (not) near”), in [[Brescia]].<ref name="DW">{{harvnb|RS/AW|2021}}:Chinese dissident artist Badiucao opened his first solo show in the northern Italian city of Brescia on Saturday [...] will be on display in Brescia until February 13. [...] The exhibition, which bears the title "China is (not) near — Works of a dissident artist," is on display at the Museum of Santa Giulia.</ref>
The Chinese embassy in Rome said the artworks were “full of anti-Chinese lies” and warned in a message to the Brescia city government that holding the exhibition would “jeopardize the friendly relations between China and Italy.”<ref>{{harvnb|RS/AW|2021}}:The Chinese Embassy in Italy sent a letter to the city of Brescia, issuing veiled threats concerning Italy's trade ties with China. Badiucao's works are "full of anti-Chinese lies" that "jeopardize the friendly relations between China and Italy," the embassy wrote in its letter.</ref>
However, the Mayor of Brescia reiterated her refusal to cancel the event, stating that “None of us [...] had the slightest doubt about this exhibition going ahead,” while museum officials made clear that there was “no intention of offending the Chinese people or Chinese culture and civilization” but “support freedom of expression.”<ref>{{harvnb|RS/AW|2021}}:"None of us in Brescia, neither in the city council nor among the citizens, had the slightest doubt about this exhibition going ahead," Deputy Mayor Laura Castelletti told news agency AFP. Still, museum officials wanted to emphasize that exhibition "has no intention of offending the Chinese people or Chinese culture and civilization", the president of the Brescia Museums Foundation, Francesca Bazoli, said. By deciding to show these works, she said, "we support freedom of expression."</ref>
====Czech Republic====
In 2022 Badiucao presented an exhibition entitled “MADe IN CHINA” at the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art in [[Prague]].<ref name="artnet">{{harvnb|Chow|2022}}: Despite Beijing’s calls to shut down a show of work by Chinese dissident artist Badiucao, the DOX Center for Contemporary Art in Prague went ahead with the politically charged exhibition anyway. Titled “MADe in China,” the exhibition is a continuation of Badiucao’s previous solo show in Brescia, Italy, which Beijing also tried to cancel last year.</ref>
The exhibition dealt with topics such as [[Persecution of Uyghurs in China|abuses by the Chinese government against the Uyghur ethnic group]], cases of [[COVID-19 misinformation by China|Chinese censorship during the COVID-19 pandemic]], [[2019–2020 Hong Kong protests|repression in Hong Kong in 2019]] and the favoritism of the [[China and the Russian invasion of Ukraine|Chinese regime to Russia]] during the war in Ukraine.<ref>{{harvnb|Chow|2022}}: It chronicles the artist’s criticisms of China’s political oppression, including the censorship of citizens during the Covid-19 pandemic, the government’s alleged human rights violations against the Uyghur population in Xinjiang, and the 2019 Hong Kong protests. The show also features new works created in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, [..] China has previously said its relationship with Russia has “no limits,” and it has been a supporter of Russia throughout its invasion of Ukraine.</ref>
The day before the opening, the DOX Centre received a message from the Chinese Embassy in the Czech Republic, requesting to cancel the exhibition, as it could damage relations between the two countries.<ref>{{harvnb|Chow|2022}}:the day before the exhibition’s opening, DOX received a call from the Chinese embassy in Prague, instructing them to call off the show. “The embassy ‘hoped we will not organize’ the exhibition, which will harm the mutual relations between the two countries,” a DOX spokesperson told Artnet News.</ref> Previously, the Chinese embassy had attempted to cancel the exhibition directly with the Czech government.<ref>{{harvnb|Chow|2022}}:the Chinese embassy called not only DOX but also the Czech government, as he learned from Jan Lipavský, the Czech foreign minister who attended the opening</ref>
====Poland====
In June 2023, Badiucao presented the exhibition “Tell China’s Story Well” at the [[Ujazdów Castle]] art centre in [[Warsaw]].<ref name="FsA">{{harvnb|Editorial team|2023}}:il 16 giugno aprirà infatti presso il Castello Ujazdowski di Varsavia la mostra Tell China’s Story Well, debutto istituzionale di Badiucao nel paese</ref>
The exhibition consisted of 70 works, and dealt with themes such as the 2019 Hong Kong protests and the [[1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre|Tiananmen massacre]].<ref>{{harvnb|Editorial team|2023}}:che vede la presenza di una settantina di opere, tra cui diversi inediti, per parlare soprattutto della soppressione della libertà di parola nel paese asiatico, con un racconto che tocca alcuni punti fondamentali della storia del dissenso in Cina, come la repressione di piazza Tienanmen del 1989, le proteste di Hong Kong del 2019 e le ribellioni contro le restrizioni per il Covid.</ref>
The Polish Ministry of Culture received letters requesting the cancellation of the exhibition. The Ujazdowski Castle art centre subsequently announced that a high-ranking official from the Chinese embassy had come to its offices to request the cancellation. The Ujazdowski Castle art centre's website was eventually blocked in China.<ref>{{harvnb|Editorial team|2023}}:il museo riferisce infatti che un rappresentante di alto rango dell’ambasciata ha visitato il Castello Ujazdowski chiedendo l’interruzione della rassegna, e anche il Ministero della Cultura e del Patrimonio Nazionale, secondo quanto riportato dall’istituto, ha ricevuto lettere per chiedere quella che è di fatto una censura della programmazione del museo. Non solo: il sito del Castello Ujazdowski è stato bloccato in Cina dalle autorità del paese.</ref>
===Identity theft===
On June 13, 2024, the community of Chinese dissidents in [[Melbourne]], Australia, held an event<ref>{{harvnb|O'Neil|2024}}: But what I do know is that he turned up to an event for the Chinese dissident community in Melbourne on June 13 this year, and convinced those there that he was me.</ref> that Badiucao was supposed to attend and whose attendees included the journalist and reporter [[Cheng Lei (journalist)|Cheng Lei]], who had been released after spending three years in prison on false charges in October 2023.<ref>{{harvnb|O'Neil|2024}}: Among the attendees was high-profile journalist Cheng Lei, ­released in October 2023 after being detained in China for three years on trumped-up charges.</ref>
An unidentified man with a similar physical build to Badiucao showed up at the event pretending to be him, which he achieved by wearing a mask almost all night,<ref>{{harvnb|O'Neil|2024}}: A Chinese person of a similar build, wearing a face mask most of the night, had introduced himself as me,</ref> since when Badiucao maintained his anonymity, he used to show up at events wearing a mask.<ref name=AFP1/>
The impostor then managed to engage in conversations with other Chinese dissidents, especially Cheng Lei.<ref>{{harvnb|O'Neil|2024}}: he and Cheng had spent much of the night talking. As his English wasn’t good, Cheng helped translate for him as he met other Hong Kong activists and dissidents.</ref>
Although the impostor could not be identified or corroborated as a Chinese agent,<ref>{{harvnb|O'Neil|2024}}: I still don’t know whether this man, who resembles me, is an operator for the Chinese Communist Party, a person with a grudge, or mentally unstable.</ref> the fact that he knew that Badiucao was unable to attend the event, lead to speculations that he must have been following Badiucao.<ref>{{harvnb|O'Neil|2024}}: I was meant to be there that night, but had pulled out at the last minute, which made it even stranger. How had my impostor known that I wouldn’t be there?</ref>
==Awards and recognition==
* 2023 Walkley award for best illustration.<ref>{{harvnb|O'Neil|2024}}: Last year, [2023] I was thrilled to receive the Walkley award for best illustration.</ref>
* 2020 [[Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent]].<ref name=HKFP/><ref>{{harvnb|O'Neil|2024}}: the 2020 Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent, human rights awards.</ref>
* 2019 "Robert Russell Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award" from the [[Cartoonists Rights Network International]].<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://cartoonistsrights.org/badiucao-wins-courage-in-cartooning-award-2019/ |title= Badiucao wins CRNI’s Courage in Cartooning Award 2019 |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= 2019 |website= cartoonistsrights.org |publisher= Cartoonists Rights Network International |access-date= 6 December 2024 |quote=In recognition of his bold defiance and courageous decision to remove the literal mask of anonymity under which he has worked for a decade, Cartoonists Rights Network International bestows its award for 2019 to the Chinese dissident, campaigner and visual artist Badiucao.}}</ref>
* 2014 Top-thirty finalist in the "Images of Repression and Freedom" from the [[Freedom House]].<ref name=CV/>
==Exhibitions==
===2023===
* «Tell China’s Story Well». Ujazdów Castle art centre in Warsaw, [[Poland]].<ref name=FsA/>
===2022===
* «MADe IN CHINA». DOX Centre for Contemporary Art in Prague, [[Czech Republic]].<ref name=artnet/>
===2021===
* «China (non) é vicina». Museum of Santa Giulia, in Brescia, Italy.<ref name=DW/>
===2017===
* «Home Thoughts from Abroad». Praxis Art Space in [[Adelaide]], Australia.<ref name=CV/>
===2016===
* «Divine Interventions». Nexus Art in Adelaide, Australia.<ref name=CV/>
* «SALA in the Square». SALA in Adelaide, Australia.<ref name=CV/>
===2015===
* «Parriastes: The Cutting Edge of Truth». Aluna Art Foundation in [[Miami]], United States.<ref name=CV/>
* «Je ris donc je suis pas terrorist (Je me fais Hara-Kiri) pour Charlie Hebdo». [[Trieste]], Italy.<ref name=CV/>
== Bibliography ==
* {{cite news |last= Beach |first= Sophie |date= 4 December 2013 |title= Ten Questions for Cartoonist Badiucao (巴丢草) |url=https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/12/ten-question-badiucao-%E5%B7%B4%E4%B8%A2%E8%8D%89/ |work= [[China Digital Times]]|location=[[Berkeley, California]]|access-date= 12 September 2019}}
* {{cite news |last= Chow |first= Vivienne |date= 13 May 2022 |title= China Tried to Shut Down Dissident Artist Badiucao’s Show in Prague. It Only Made Him More Famous |url= https://news.artnet.com/art-world-archives/badiucao-dox-prague-china-protest-2114569 |work= Artnet |location=[[New York City|New York]], United States. |access-date= 5 December 2024}}
* {{cite news |author= Editorial team |date= 11 June 2023 |title= La Cina tenta di nuovo di far cancellare una mostra di Badiucao, in Polonia. Senza riuscirci |trans-title= China Tries Again to Cancel Badiucao Exhibition in Poland. Fails |url= https://www.finestresullarte.info/attualita/cina-tenta-di-far-cancellare-mostra-di-badiucao-in-polonia |work= Finestre sull'Arte |language= it |location= Italy |publisher=Danae Project Ltd. |issn = 2612-6931 |access-date= 5 December 2024}}
* {{cite news |last=Griffiths |first=James |title='I'm not backing down this time': Chinese dissident artist Badiucao reveals his identity |url=https://www.cnn.com/style/article/badiucao-documentary-reveals-identity-intl/index.html |access-date=14 December 2020 |website=Cnn.com|date=5 June 2019}}
* {{cite web|url=http://cbldf.org/2016/02/watching-big-brotherchinese-cartoonist-watches-back/|title=Watching Big Brother: Chinese Cartoonist Watches Back |last=McCabe|first=Caitlin|publisher=Comic Book Legal Defense Fund|website=Cbldf.org|date=11 February 2016|access-date=5 December 2024}}
* {{cite news |last= O'Neil |first= Patrick |date= 23 November 2024 |year= 2024 |title= Watched, followed, threatened. Now an impostor is claiming to be me |url= https://www.theage.com.au/interactive/2024/watched-followed-threatened/index.html|work=[[The Age]] |location= Melbourne, Australia |publisher= |issn = 0312-6307|access-date=5 December 2024}}
* {{Cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/chinese-cartoonist-badiucao-unmasks-beijing-threats-003530232.html|title=Chinese cartoonist Badiucao unmasks after Beijing threats|last=Philipson|first=Alice|date=3 June 2019|website=News.yahoo.com|publisher=[[Agence France-Presse]]|language=en-US|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608193709/https://news.yahoo.com/chinese-cartoonist-badiucao-unmasks-beijing-threats-003530232.html |archive-date=8 June 2019 |access-date=12 September 2019}}
* {{cite news |author=RS/AW |date= 13 November 2021 |title= Italian city opens art show despite Beijing pressure |url=https://www.dw.com/en/italian-city-opens-chinese-dissident-art-show-despite-pressure-from-beijing/a-59811493 |work=[[Deutsche Welle]] |location= Bonn, Germany|access-date=5 December 2024}}


== References ==
== References ==

Latest revision as of 17:51, 29 December 2024

Template:Short description Template:Infobox comics creator Badiucao (Template:Zh)[1] is a Chinese Australian[2] political cartoonist, artist and rights activist based in Australia. He is regarded as one of China's most prolific and well-known political cartoonists.[3] He adopted his pen-name to protect his identity.[4]

Biography

Early life

Badiucao was born in 1986 and raised in urban Shanghai.[5] His paternal grandfather was a pioneer filmmaker, who was persecuted after the communists came to power, sent to laogai farms in Qinghai during the Anti-Rightist Campaign, and starved to death. A few years later, his father became an orphan when his grandmother died in poverty on Chinese New Year's Eve. His father grew up with the help of neighbours and strived for university education, but was denied admission because of family ties.[6]

Education

Badiucao had no formal training in art while in China.[7] He studied law at the East China University of Political Science and Law. He and his dorm-mates accidentally watched the documentary The Gate of Heavenly Peace after it was hidden in a pirated Taiwanese drama. Disillusioned with China, he moved to Australia to study in 2009, becoming a citizen later.[2][8] He worked as a kindergarten teacher for many years.[9][10]

Career

Badiucao first political cartoon, published in 2011, was about the Wenzhou train collision.[7]

His works had been published in BBC, CNN, China Digital Times and Hong Kong Free Press; and also had been used by Amnesty International and Freedom House.[11][12][13]

Badiucao's works have also featured exhibitions in US, Australia, and Italy.[11]

According to a 2013 interview, Badiucao admired three other Chinese political cartoonists at the time—Hexie Farm, Rebel Pepper and Kuang Biao.[14]

End of anonymity

Until June 2019, Badiucao wore a mask at public events to maintain as much anonymity as possible.[15]

According to Badiucao, the Chinese regime may have identified him after a fellow dissident posted on X that he worked as an assistant to Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei, which linked him to him.[16]

In June 2019, Badiucao made his face public in a documentary titled “China’s Artful Dissident,”[17] as well as personal details about his life (such as his age, professional degree, and university he graduated from) because after Chinese authorities had identified him, his relatives were threatened and he no longer had a reason to remain anonymous.[18] As Badiucao reported to Agence France-Presse, the harassment of his relatives could now be publicly exposed after his anonymity ended.[15]

Style and approach

Badiucao utilizes satire and pop culture references to convey his message. He often manipulates archetypal images from Communist Party propaganda to make subversive political statements.[3]

He asserts that the government authorities in China are very concerned that their suppression of human rights activism is attracting attention from international media.[19]

In an early 2016 interview, he stated that “Cartoons and portraits can create a unified visual symbol, which can help spread the message and attract sustained attention, in order to create pressure from public opinion. Maybe this pressure can improve the situation for those who are imprisoned, as well as comfort the family members of the persecuted.”[20]

Activism

Badiucao is extremely active and often responds quickly to prevailing news and events in relation to mainland China, Taiwan and the Chinese diaspora. He also responds quickly to news and events relating to other authoritarian countries such as Iran.[21]

In response to the PLA-aligned Kathy Chen being appointed the head of Twitter in China, Badiucao drew Twitter's logo, a bird, impaled on the yellow star that is a feature of China's flag.[22]

Badiucao has supported other artists and dissidents. In 2013, in response to the rape of six students by the school's principal and a local official, Ai Xiaoming from Sun Yat-sen University posted a topless picture of herself on Twitter, holding scissors, covered in writing above her breasts, "Get a room with me, let Ye Haiyan go", conveying a strong political message.[23][24][25][26] In response, Badiucao posted a cartoon in which she became a big pair of scissors, with gun barrels protruding from her nipples.[27]

In early 2016, he created a series of artworks supporting Wu Wei,[28] a former head tutor at the University of Sydney, who had resigned after an incident in which he referred to certain students from mainland China as 'pigs'.[29] Wu Wei had used the character tun (豚), instead of the more commonly used character, zhu (猪). Online dissidents have co-opted tun as a slang reference to guan'erdai, the second-generation offspring of Chinese Communist Party officials.[30]

In May 2016, the newly elected President of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, was subject to an attack upon her marital status by Wang Weixing, a scholar with the Chinese People's Liberation Army.[31] Badiucao highlighted the irony of the attack with a cartoon comparing Tsai's marital status to that of Xi Jinping, current General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.[32]

After Xi Jinping toured state media, Badiucao depicted General Secretary Xi being greeted by a cast of monkeys and snakes. This alludes to the media's role as a ‘mouthpiece of the Party’. The Mandarin term for mouthpiece (喉舌) equates to 'throat and tongue' and is a homophone for monkey snake (猴蛇).[33]

In 2018, an art show about Badiucao was planned to be held in Hong Kong. However, the show has been canceled due to "safety concerns" later due to threats made by the Chinese authorities regarding the artist.[34] In 2019, a planned artist talk about activism with Hong Kong musician-activist Denise Ho at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne was rejected by the gallery for “security reasons." On the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, in June 2019, a documentary about Badiucao was shown on Australian television.[35][36]

Badiucao created a "protest NFT collection" criticizing China's human rights record and calling for a boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics, created through the Art in Protest residency, a partnership between the Gray Area Foundation for the Arts and the Human Rights Foundation.[37][38] In a statement, Badiucao said the series depicts "the Chinese government’s oppression of the Tibetan people, the Uyghur genocide, the dismantling of democracy in Hong Kong, the regime’s omnipresent surveillance systems, and lack of transparency surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic."[37] The series shows athletes in Chinese uniforms tackling a Tibetan monk, skating over Hong Kong's flag, atop a surveillance camera, sliding a virus, and aiming a rifle at a blindfolded Uyghur.[37][39] Five pieces were displayed in Miami, Florida during Art Basel Miami Beach in 2021.[38]

Copies of the posters put up anonymously at George Washington University in February 2022 were reported to police and removed, with Chinese student organizations claiming they "incited racial hatred and ethnic tensions."[39] Shortly afterwards, GWU President Mark Wrighton issued a statement, saying "Upon full understanding, I do not view these posters as racist; they are political statements. There is no university investigation underway, and the university will not take any action against the students who displayed the poster."[39] Regarding the art, Badiucao told Axios, "My art is always targeting the Chinese Communist Party, never the Chinese suffering from this regime."[39]

Political persecution and harassment

Online harassment

In 2016, Badiucao revealed that he had been the target of “large-scale” and systematized online attacks on two occasions, apparently with the intention of contaminating search results for your person or work,[40] as well as to intimidate him.[41]

Threats to family and exhibition cancelation

By November 2018, Badiucao was preparing his first solo exposition in Hong Kong under the title "Black comedy for Hong Kong, China and the world",[42] but he had to cancel it after relatives informed him that they had been threatened by Chinese authorities.[18]

Following in public spaces

Following the release of the documentary “China’s Artful Dissident” in June 2019, Badiucao reported an incident in which four Asian men boarded a bus that he usually takes home and sat in separate seats around him. The incident caught his attention since there were almost no Asians in the suburb where he lived. Noticing that some of the men were wearing wireless earpieces, he decided to get off the bus early and the group of men followed him even when Badiucao retraced his steps. He then entered a supermarket where the group waited for him outside and then left after about 45 minutes.[43]

Cancellation attempts in Europe

Italy

From November 2021 to February 2022, Badiucao presented the exhibition “China (non) é vicina” (“China is (not) near”), in Brescia.[44]

The Chinese embassy in Rome said the artworks were “full of anti-Chinese lies” and warned in a message to the Brescia city government that holding the exhibition would “jeopardize the friendly relations between China and Italy.”[45]

However, the Mayor of Brescia reiterated her refusal to cancel the event, stating that “None of us [...] had the slightest doubt about this exhibition going ahead,” while museum officials made clear that there was “no intention of offending the Chinese people or Chinese culture and civilization” but “support freedom of expression.”[46]

Czech Republic

In 2022 Badiucao presented an exhibition entitled “MADe IN CHINA” at the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art in Prague.[47]

The exhibition dealt with topics such as abuses by the Chinese government against the Uyghur ethnic group, cases of Chinese censorship during the COVID-19 pandemic, repression in Hong Kong in 2019 and the favoritism of the Chinese regime to Russia during the war in Ukraine.[48]

The day before the opening, the DOX Centre received a message from the Chinese Embassy in the Czech Republic, requesting to cancel the exhibition, as it could damage relations between the two countries.[49] Previously, the Chinese embassy had attempted to cancel the exhibition directly with the Czech government.[50]

Poland

In June 2023, Badiucao presented the exhibition “Tell China’s Story Well” at the Ujazdów Castle art centre in Warsaw.[51]

The exhibition consisted of 70 works, and dealt with themes such as the 2019 Hong Kong protests and the Tiananmen massacre.[52]

The Polish Ministry of Culture received letters requesting the cancellation of the exhibition. The Ujazdowski Castle art centre subsequently announced that a high-ranking official from the Chinese embassy had come to its offices to request the cancellation. The Ujazdowski Castle art centre's website was eventually blocked in China.[53]

Identity theft

On June 13, 2024, the community of Chinese dissidents in Melbourne, Australia, held an event[54] that Badiucao was supposed to attend and whose attendees included the journalist and reporter Cheng Lei, who had been released after spending three years in prison on false charges in October 2023.[55]

An unidentified man with a similar physical build to Badiucao showed up at the event pretending to be him, which he achieved by wearing a mask almost all night,[56] since when Badiucao maintained his anonymity, he used to show up at events wearing a mask.[15]

The impostor then managed to engage in conversations with other Chinese dissidents, especially Cheng Lei.[57]

Although the impostor could not be identified or corroborated as a Chinese agent,[58] the fact that he knew that Badiucao was unable to attend the event, lead to speculations that he must have been following Badiucao.[59]

Awards and recognition

Exhibitions

2023

  • «Tell China’s Story Well». Ujazdów Castle art centre in Warsaw, Poland.[51]

2022

2021

  • «China (non) é vicina». Museum of Santa Giulia, in Brescia, Italy.[44]

2017

  • «Home Thoughts from Abroad». Praxis Art Space in Adelaide, Australia.[11]

2016

  • «Divine Interventions». Nexus Art in Adelaide, Australia.[11]
  • «SALA in the Square». SALA in Adelaide, Australia.[11]

2015

  • «Parriastes: The Cutting Edge of Truth». Aluna Art Foundation in Miami, United States.[11]
  • «Je ris donc je suis pas terrorist (Je me fais Hara-Kiri) pour Charlie Hebdo». Trieste, Italy.[11]

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ Template:Harvnb
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Template:Harvnb: "In 2009, Badiucao moved to Australia, where he has since become a citizen"
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Template:Cite web
  4. ↑ Template:Cite web
  5. ↑ Template:Cite web
  6. ↑ Template:Harvnb: "My grandfather was the first generation of Chinese filmmakers, and was persecuted after the founding of the People’s Republic of China and sent to a farm for re-education through labor in Qinghai during the anti-Rightist campaign. Finally he starved to death in a strange land when my father was just a child. A few years later, my grandmother died of illness on New Year’s Eve, and my father became an orphan. Fortunately, his neighbors helped him. When he grew up he worked hard to apply to college, but because of his family background he lost his opportunity for admission"
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Template:Harvnb: "My first drawing was about the 2011 Wenzhou high-speed train crash. Before I started drawing cartoons, I had no formal art training."
  8. ↑ Template:Harvnb: "Unbeknown to them, the file had "The Gate of Heavenly Peace" -- a detailed documentary about the 1989 crackdown on Tiananmen square protesters [...] Haunted by this new knowledge [...] he left for Australia to begin a career satirising political suppression."
  9. ↑ Template:Harvnb: "My current job [2013] is a kindergarten teacher."
  10. ↑ Template:Harvnb: "After a sidestep into teaching at a kindergarten"
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 11.7 Template:Cite web
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Template:Cite news
  13. ↑ Template:Harvnb: "A contributing artist for China Digital Times, his work has been used by Amnesty International, Freedom House, BBC, and CNN and has been exhibited around the world."
  14. ↑ Template:Harvnb: "The cartoonists I admire are Hexie Farm, Biantai Lajiao (Rebel Pepper), and Kuang Biao."
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Template:Harvnb: "Now there is little reason to hide who he really is, he told AFP, and has abandoned the full face masks he wore at public appearances."
  16. ↑ Template:Harvnb: "But they were able to piece together his identity after a fellow dissident revealed on Twitter he was working as Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's assistant in Berlin."
  17. ↑ Template:Harvnb: When China’s Artful Dissident aired, it was the first time I’d shown my face in public, a huge step for me.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Template:Harvnb: "But three days before the Hong Kong opening, Badiucao said he was contacted by his family to say relatives in China had been taken by police for questioning." [...] "They got told I'm having this exhibition in Hong Kong and the message from the police is pretty clear: they want me to shut down everything."
  19. ↑ Template:Cite web
  20. ↑ Template:Cite web
  21. ↑ Template:Cite web
  22. ↑ Template:Cite news
  23. ↑ Template:Cite tweet
  24. ↑ Zeng, Jinyan. “The Politics of Emotion in Grassroots Feminist Protests: A Case Study of Xiaoming Ai's Nude Breasts Photography Protest Online.” Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, vol. 15, no. 1, 2014, pp. 41–52. JSTOR, . Accessed 26 Feb. 2021.
  25. ↑ Template:Cite web
  26. ↑ Template:Cite news
  27. ↑ Template:Cite book
  28. ↑ Template:Cite web
  29. ↑ Template:Cite web
  30. ↑ Template:Cite web
  31. ↑ Template:Cite news
  32. ↑ Template:Cite web
  33. ↑ Template:Cite web
  34. ↑ Template:Cite web
  35. ↑ Template:Cite web
  36. ↑ Template:Cite web
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 Template:Cite web
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 Template:Cite web
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 39.2 39.3 Template:Cite news
  40. ↑ Template:Harvnb: "“In recent years, I have been subjected to large-scale Internet attacks twice,” [...] “[T]these attacks are not from individuals, but are organized systematically. The goal of this kind of attack is not just to threaten me, but possibly to pollute search results for ‘badiucao,’ and to block the visibility of my cartoons online.”"
  41. ↑ Template:Harvnb: "Although the threats initially worked and Badiucao was afraid,"
  42. ↑ Template:Harvnb: "Badiucao's first solo international exhibition and his first in a Chinese territory was scheduled for November last year in Hong Kong. Billed as a "black comedy for Hong Kong, China and the world""
  43. ↑ Template:Harvnb: I live in a suburb where there are not a lot of Chinese or Asian people. Right after the documentary aired, four middle-aged Asian men, all wearing matching Bluetooth earpieces, sat around me in a bus on the way home. I jumped off the bus at an earlier stop. The earpiece quartet followed. I walked one way for a while, then did a 180-degree turn and walked back into a supermarket, staying inside for 45 minutes until they left.
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 Template:Harvnb:Chinese dissident artist Badiucao opened his first solo show in the northern Italian city of Brescia on Saturday [...] will be on display in Brescia until February 13. [...] The exhibition, which bears the title "China is (not) near — Works of a dissident artist," is on display at the Museum of Santa Giulia.
  45. ↑ Template:Harvnb:The Chinese Embassy in Italy sent a letter to the city of Brescia, issuing veiled threats concerning Italy's trade ties with China. Badiucao's works are "full of anti-Chinese lies" that "jeopardize the friendly relations between China and Italy," the embassy wrote in its letter.
  46. ↑ Template:Harvnb:"None of us in Brescia, neither in the city council nor among the citizens, had the slightest doubt about this exhibition going ahead," Deputy Mayor Laura Castelletti told news agency AFP. Still, museum officials wanted to emphasize that exhibition "has no intention of offending the Chinese people or Chinese culture and civilization", the president of the Brescia Museums Foundation, Francesca Bazoli, said. By deciding to show these works, she said, "we support freedom of expression."
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 Template:Harvnb: Despite Beijing’s calls to shut down a show of work by Chinese dissident artist Badiucao, the DOX Center for Contemporary Art in Prague went ahead with the politically charged exhibition anyway. Titled “MADe in China,” the exhibition is a continuation of Badiucao’s previous solo show in Brescia, Italy, which Beijing also tried to cancel last year.
  48. ↑ Template:Harvnb: It chronicles the artist’s criticisms of China’s political oppression, including the censorship of citizens during the Covid-19 pandemic, the government’s alleged human rights violations against the Uyghur population in Xinjiang, and the 2019 Hong Kong protests. The show also features new works created in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, [..] China has previously said its relationship with Russia has “no limits,” and it has been a supporter of Russia throughout its invasion of Ukraine.
  49. ↑ Template:Harvnb:the day before the exhibition’s opening, DOX received a call from the Chinese embassy in Prague, instructing them to call off the show. “The embassy ‘hoped we will not organize’ the exhibition, which will harm the mutual relations between the two countries,” a DOX spokesperson told Artnet News.
  50. ↑ Template:Harvnb:the Chinese embassy called not only DOX but also the Czech government, as he learned from Jan Lipavský, the Czech foreign minister who attended the opening
  51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 Template:Harvnb:il 16 giugno aprirà infatti presso il Castello Ujazdowski di Varsavia la mostra Tell China’s Story Well, debutto istituzionale di Badiucao nel paese
  52. ↑ Template:Harvnb:che vede la presenza di una settantina di opere, tra cui diversi inediti, per parlare soprattutto della soppressione della libertà di parola nel paese asiatico, con un racconto che tocca alcuni punti fondamentali della storia del dissenso in Cina, come la repressione di piazza Tienanmen del 1989, le proteste di Hong Kong del 2019 e le ribellioni contro le restrizioni per il Covid.
  53. ↑ Template:Harvnb:il museo riferisce infatti che un rappresentante di alto rango dell’ambasciata ha visitato il Castello Ujazdowski chiedendo l’interruzione della rassegna, e anche il Ministero della Cultura e del Patrimonio Nazionale, secondo quanto riportato dall’istituto, ha ricevuto lettere per chiedere quella che è di fatto una censura della programmazione del museo. Non solo: il sito del Castello Ujazdowski è stato bloccato in Cina dalle autorità del paese.
  54. ↑ Template:Harvnb: But what I do know is that he turned up to an event for the Chinese dissident community in Melbourne on June 13 this year, and convinced those there that he was me.
  55. ↑ Template:Harvnb: Among the attendees was high-profile journalist Cheng Lei, ­released in October 2023 after being detained in China for three years on trumped-up charges.
  56. ↑ Template:Harvnb: A Chinese person of a similar build, wearing a face mask most of the night, had introduced himself as me,
  57. ↑ Template:Harvnb: he and Cheng had spent much of the night talking. As his English wasn’t good, Cheng helped translate for him as he met other Hong Kong activists and dissidents.
  58. ↑ Template:Harvnb: I still don’t know whether this man, who resembles me, is an operator for the Chinese Communist Party, a person with a grudge, or mentally unstable.
  59. ↑ Template:Harvnb: I was meant to be there that night, but had pulled out at the last minute, which made it even stranger. How had my impostor known that I wouldn’t be there?
  60. ↑ Template:Harvnb: Last year, [2023] I was thrilled to receive the Walkley award for best illustration.
  61. ↑ Template:Harvnb: the 2020 Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent, human rights awards.
  62. ↑ Template:Cite web

External links

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