Art Exhibition In China Closed Due To Violent Harassment Of Women

JAKARTA - An art exhibition in the heart of Shanghai, China, was closed after photos of 5,000 female students ranked based on appearance drew sharp criticism from the public for being considered harassing women.

The management of OCAT Shanghai, which is the venue for the exhibition titled "Uglier and Uglier", announced the closure.

"We found the concept of this exhibition disrespectful and offensive to women. We apologize to visitors who feel uncomfortable with this exhibition," OCAT Shanghai said in a statement on its official Weibo account.

At the front of the exhibition hall is a sign bearing the Hanzi character, which means it is closed due to equipment repairs.

"There is no clarity as to when this exhibition will reopen to the public," said an OCAT Shanghai staff quoted by Chinese media from Antara, Sunday, June 20.

"Uglier and Uglier" created by Song Ta, an artist and curator from Guangdong Province, in 2013.

In an interview with the Beijing-based BIE social media account in 2019, Song said that he and his assistant secretly took photos of about 5,000 female students on a campus and then they ranked the thousands of photos based on their appearance as a work of art.

The photos are shown in an eight-hour video "in order of appearance", from the most beautiful to the ugliest according to Song's own rating system.

"(Women) in the lower ranks are so scary that (they can make visitors) uncomfortable," Song said at the time.

Many Weibo users criticized the man's artwork for making women the object of harassment.

"Song is extremely rude for publicly commenting on this young woman from head to toe in such a degrading manner," wrote one Weibo user.