A museum in China has removed an exhibit this week that juxtaposed photographs of animals with portraits of black Africans, sparking complaints of racism.
The exhibit titled This Is Africa at the Hubei Provincial Museum in the city of Wuhan displayed a series of diptychs, each one containing a photo of an African person paired with the face of an animal. In a particularly striking example, a child with his mouth wide open was paired with a gorilla and other works included baboons and cheetahs.
The exhibit was eventually removed after complaints by Africans, including some living in China, the curator said. All the photographs were taken by Yu Huiping, a construction magnate who has travelled to Africa more than 20 times, has previously won awards for his work and is vice-chairman of the Hubei Photographers Association.
Racial sensitivities are often muddled in China, where about 92% of the population belongs to the dominant Han ethnicity and ethnic minorities mostly live in the sporadically populated far west of the country. African countries are increasingly important trading partners, but cultural stereotypes dominate Chinese popular discourse on the continent.
Wang Yuejun, one of the exhibit’s curators, said that comparisons to animals were typically seen as a compliment in Chinese culture, pointing to the zodiac signs that identify people with animals according to their birth year.
“The target audience is mainly Chinese,” Wang said in a statement. But the museum understood the images offended “our African friends” and the pictures were removed to show respect for their concerns, Wang added.
The offensive nature was first notices by a Nigerian Instagram user, Edward E Duke. In a post, which was later removed, he asked why the museum “put pictures of a particular race next to wild animals”.
More than 141,000 people visited the show, which opened just before China’s week-long National Day holiday.
China is rife with examples of tone deafness when it comes to race. China’s most popular chat app, WeChat, was forced to apologise this week after its software used the English N-word to translate a Chinese phrase that commonly means “black foreigner”.
Last year a television advert for laundry detergent showed a black man covered in paint going into a washing machine and coming out as a sparkling Asian man. The video went viral around the world and caused outrage for its insensitive messaging.
Over the summer China’s state news agency published a video during a border standoff with India featuring an offensive parody of a Sikh man, complete with a turban and fake beard.
Source:The Guardian
An EYE OPENER TO ALL IGNORANT who MAY NOT KNOW THAT AS BLACK PEOPLE WE ARE HATED EVERYWHERE SO WE NEED TO STICK TOGETHER and STOP HARMING EACH OTHER FOR NOTHING BUT TO PROFIT FOREIGNERS!! Asians, Arabs and Latinos can even be more racist than whites as the dominant culture in whites promotes individual’s thoughts while Asians and Arabs reason in groups with a closely conservative culture!! AS BLACKS, WE NEED OURSELVES, TO THINK, DO and WORK FOR OURSELVES IN ORDER TO MAKE ALL THESE RACISTS IRRELEVANT TO AND IN OUR LIVES!!
Africans are inferior
Natural resources abound….Yet, the continent is mired in abject poverty
Its rulers are the richest men on the planet
eg
Singapore vs DR Congo
India vs South Africa
China vs Kenya
Ghana vs Indonesia
All that said it is interesting to note that India as a percentage of population has more slum dwellers compared to Africa, has more illitrates as a percentage of population compared to Africa has more poor then Africans…….
Well said. I do not know who is down voting a great great comment. Zambians are duanzy sometimes kikikiki.
@ 1.1
India v South Africa.. ..
You must be illiterate. In S.A. there are millions of Indians who would rather be burned to death than return to live in India, while there are next to zero south africans living or wanting to live in india.
that should tell you something about Africa.
Why is bwafya being down voted? By fellow Africans? are Africans so brain washed?
@bwafyaa, well said! But these insults should make us take an honest look at ourselves. We need all Africans to be educated because this is clearly where the problem lies. Had we not been colonised and had we not chosen the path of industrialisation which came as part and parcel of the colonisation process and the eventual direction the whole world has taken then there would be no need to be educated. A change in the African mindset through education will see us change from the culture of stealing, tribalism, genocide and xenophobia.
Most black Africans panic when they see a wooden box we call coffin. Just watch the prank by Leon Schuster in S.Africa with a coffin and black people in a mini bus…. kikikikiki
Really laughable …you honest think the Chines see you as equals!!
Wake up fooools!!
Very silly. They better know that we Africans wont take such nonsense anymore. The museum should be sued and fined heavily to compensate the entire African race for the severe damage caused.
You are joking right? Sued by who and where?
Always naive and two steps behind @Nine Chale when are you going to wake up!!
blabla yes it can be sued. A class action law suit. You people from Mpika some times don’t realize the power a collective has. Their is provision in the UN. China being heavily invested in Africa does not want any negativity.
Guys, please forget about these so-called racist stunts. Let’s move on and remain PROUD of the colour of our skins. Let’s STOP our women from wearing vima Wigs that are mostly weaved and extracted from DEAD Asian corpses. Europeans here in the world are DYING to turn into black. They are even tunning their “Albino type skins” into black. They are now driving BLACK painted cars more than white. We shud start believing in ourselves afterall, BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL!…
Never ignore anything like this, we can fight this and get our women of wigs at the same time.
This was stopped by Africans. That is all you need to take away from this. Bravo Africans that don’t take nonsense anymore.
Racist Chinks with their closed minds showing their true cultural upbringing.
These are the people who are slowly taking over our country.Because of our weakness for money we are going to be colonised by these chinks who liken us to apes. Sad
Africans who love bootlicking other races need to know that noone will come and save or serve the African except the African himself. Africans need to learn to depend on themselves. Africans should stop envying other people. They should envy themselves. They should love themselves. They should have pride in themselves. Things like naming yourselves with other people’s names perpetuate inferiority complex. Which race names its kids after Africans? None! So why should we be the only race carrying other peoples ancestors’ names? To continue with mental slavery?
Africans! Love your dress! Love your music! Love your culture! Love your heroes! Stop imitating the rest of the world! Be Original!
Twalikwata ubwafya we africans. We think light skined people are better than us always imitating their stupid cultures especially people from west africa very useless people. Always running to Europe and dying at Mediterranean sea runing poverty from africa useless people. Failing to govern yourselves you morons. We have every natural resources to make this continent a better place for ourselves but alas the leaders we have are so dull and selfish who only think about themselves.
AFRICANS is the dulliest RACE, CRIMINALS, RAPISTS, THUGS, CORRUPT,THIEVES, NOTHING GOOD IN THEM CHINA IS HERE TO COLONIZE AFRICA ECONOMICALLY, WHEN THEY BECOME WORLD SUPPER POWERS, AFRICAN BLACK MAN WILL NOT EVEN BE GIVEN VISA TO GO VISIT CHINA, CHINESE ARE RACISTS AND WE HAVE ALLOWED IT , THEY LIVE IN SELECTED AREAS IN ZAMBIA EVEN A BLACKMAN WORKS FOR THEM CANNOT STAY WITH THEM , THEY EAT BY THEMSELVES BLACKS UKOKWINE, THEY INSULT U AND UR MINISTER WILL DO NOTHING, THEY STEAL UR COPPER POLICE ARREST THEM THE SAME DAY THEY ARE RELEASED AND ZAMBIA APOLOGIZES STARTING FROM ZAMBIA EMBASSY IN CHINA, PLEASE DONT JOKE, THAT CURATOR WAS OK TO PUT A BLACKMAN WITH KOLWE COS. IN CHINA A BLACK PERSON IS CALLED ..BLACK GHOST?? hei gui
You are the most most foolish and ignorant person I have ever encountered who thinks with his fingers and buttocks, no wonder Africa is not going anywhere in some sectors. I believe it takes people’s sane contributions to turn around a mindset corrupted, what you are doing “PIT LATRINE-ANYOKO” is to merge magnets with like poles pointed at each other! how foolish you are! The chinese were painting a picture of a black person to the uninformed and you are also complimenting their foolish works. If you don’t know how to express yourself in simple grade 1 english please come for lessons as satire it too much for your STUPIDITY!!!!!!
Sensitive, sensitive. …this attitude makes even more inferior. …Whites can sleep with dogs and we don’t see anything wrong. …but us we can’t even touch a dog.
Although we have accepted the term BLACK pinned on us by racists, I strongly feel that almost or africans are BROWN or DARK BROWN. To tell the truth, I have never seen a WHITE person maybe something close to white but not true white as snow or paper. Am now doubting my eye sight.
Europeans aren’t white but albino.
Factually the black man IS inferior.
Why ?
Because he himself thinks and accepts that he is inferior !
Black women use all sorts of chemicals to look fairer. Black women do not accept their natural God given hair.
Blacks name their children with white names. Their presidents even are wear white clothes. See the arab in his home clothes ? Ever see a black president in chitenge ?
A russian or chinese will stand at UN and speak his language.
A black man will never address the world in Bemba or Tonga ????