Opening week for the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale wasn't short of excitement, reflection, criticism, and social commentary from the architecture community and the general public. With that said, another piece of controversial news was recently reported by the Italian news and analysis website Decode39 on the Chinese Embassy's decision to exit one of the largest international design and culture exhibitions.
According to Decode39, China withdrew from the event due to an installation titled Investigating Xinjiang’s Network of Detention Camps. Created by architect and urban designer Alison Killing of Killing Architects, the project aimed to explore and investigate the "network of detention camps built by the Chinese government in Xinjiang for the mass detention of Muslims."
In 2021, Killing was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in the International Reporting category for her ongoing work using satellite imagery to investigate and track Xinjiang internment camps.
"It was almost impossible for journalists to travel and work effectively in Xinjiang, and the lack of access meant we turned to visual and spatial methods such as satellite imagery, 3D modeling, and analyses of the Chinese prison building regulations," she explained in her exhibition description for the Biennale.
The installation consists of a four-sided media gallery that displays a mural of the Mongolküre detention camp, drawn by Jan Rothuizen, on a large white surface. The three remaining walls are painted in dark grey tones, with one of them showing portraits of former detainees photographed by Ekaterina Anchevskaya. Entering the media gallery, a film led by Killing and her team shows a series of satellite images, text, and other visuals of these detention camps.
Media reviews and posts on social media have applauded Killing and her team on their project and the somber yet important discussion the installation has sparked. Rowan Moore wrote in his review of the Biennale for The Guardian: "Some of the most memorable exhibits, because they are specific and concrete, are the bleakest, such as a film by a team led by the architect Alison Killing (Newcastle-born, Rotterdam-based) that documents, through satellite imagery and other material, the scale and efficient cruelty of Chinese internment camps for Uyghurs."
Decode39 reports that a representative from Beijing, however, "took issue" with the piece. A spokesperson from the Chinese Embassy reportedly released a statement expressing that the project displayed "fake news" and denounced the exhibition.
In Killing's statement for the official Biennale catalog, she explains: "Architectural and spatial analysis tools have been critical in a series of recent groundbreaking investigative journalism projects, enabling investigations to be carried out that would not have been previously possible. Such projects have recently attracted much attention within the architectural profession, but the working methods, challenges, and opportunities for collaboration between architects and journalists are far less well understood or pursued."
This isn't the first time international organizations have investigated and uncovered evidence of major human rights violations in China, yet the country has continued to deny any allegations.
Stay tuned for more 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale coverage.
14 Comments
Good for her. Fuck the CCP.
I wonder, why no GITMO, or Apartheid State of Israel?
Those should be addressed too, but not sure she needs to address those. I am glad she is taking a stand against the Chinese government, just hope others can do the same for Gitmo etc
Gitmo is bad, Isreal too, but the implication that China is morally equivalent is beyond laughable. The CCP is a truly dystopian society of human rights violations that it trying to take over the world with its long game…and is succeeding…
Yawn on the CCP gahbage.
You don’t think the CCP is one of the most oppressive regimes?
It is just too woke to engage in whataboutism and compare, for example the US to China. Laughable wokism.
If you had same behavior and policy under the banner of “far-right” rather than “communist” the purple hairs would be blocking traffic at the Walmarts. The greatest enemy to future civilization is the CCP…and they’ve been empowered by US greed. Aside from their domestic tyranny, they are actively trying to destroy the US from within by tapping into its vulnerability-through the same types of capture that corporations have taken advantage of. The wokism is part of that. This is not a conspiracy, it’s in the communist play book. If you think that corporations have managed to capture government for their benefit, and you think that other states wouldn’t capitalize on that vulnerability, you have to be incredibly naive. The CCP has also spelled out their plan for dominating the 21st century. But for some wokies, they have been so brainwashed by self hatred that they can’t possibly imagine a non-European non-capitalistic nation being bad guys. It’s like 99% of history didn’t happen, and all bad things started in 1776. Before that it was all peace and love.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pOmXiapfCs8
I dunno if they are the greatest enemy to civilization, but they are surely one of the most dangerous
You both lost when "wokism" entered the conversation.
You lost as soon as you entered wokism into the conversation. This idea that you can do a stupid thing and then get mad when people notice that stupid thing and put a mocking name to that stupid thing is just hilarious.
Except for the fact that by your very existence, you're the only one in this conversation buying into msm, and neoliberal/neo con talking points around China. History isn't on your side, that's wokism in a nutshell. You're an emo cuck fetishist.
Yep. Now I remember why I left.
All things considered, not one gives a rat's ass if China exits the Biennale.
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