Sensitive List and Chinese Censorship

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My project is an artistic book of illustrations that I have titled Sensitive List. To better understand my project, it is important to know about the cultural background as well as about the political and historical frameworks under which this project was conceived.
Born and raised in China, I have grown up in a climate of strict political censorship and limited personal freedoms. One of the most chilling aspects of my culture is the government-generated “sensitive list”. Essentially, this list is comprised of over one thousand words - like “democracy” and “freedom” – which the Chinese government has banned its populace from using publicly. If people fail to comply and choose to write or speak any of these government- censored words in a public forum, these citizens risk grave punishment -- or worse.
Sensitive List is an artistic response to the attempt of the Chinese government to muzzle and restrict its people’s freedoms in expression, including my own. Sensitive List was greatly influenced by the work of Ai Weiwei, a Chinese contemporary artist who landed on the government’s so-called “sensitive list” because of his artistic and political daring. His art questions and challenges the policies of his restrictive government, and so does mine.
Sensitive List is comprised of carefully chosen terms and code words that are part of the government’s collection of prohibited language. The words I chose are ones that are particularly meaningful to me, including “Tiananmen Square Protests”—an event which Chinese people are not allowed to discuss or reference.
In my project, I have included the literal meaning of terms and code words, as well as their Chinese pronunciations. I have also illustrated how the code words have traditionall...

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...free individuals, and we do not need a censor to tell us what is acceptable or not. To me, all censorship is contrary to democratic principles.
Freedom of speech should be guaranteed in China, as it is essential to the preservation of both a free society and a creative culture. Sensitive List, my artistic book of illustrations, aims to educate people, visually, about the restrictive principles and philosophy of a government that attempts to control and repress its people in an undemocratic way. Through it, I want to communicate my belief that freedom of speech must be preserved, not only in art, but also in literature, theatre, music, and public discourse. For it is through free and open discussion of political and social ideas that humans – as well as the whole of society -- can grow, develop, and thrive. Sensitive List is my attempt to see this happen in China.

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