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Chinese museum pulls down photos comparing Africans to wild animals
The special exhibit was portraying the works of Chinese photographer Yu Huiping, which are aimed at giving visitors a sense of primitive life in Africa through the interplay of humans, animals and nature.
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A section of “This is Africa” exhibit at the Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan included a lion growling in a photo was framed alongside the photo of a man with a similar expression, a chimpanzee with its mouth opened wide was also framed alongside a child who appeared to have a similar expression, photos of other animals were also framed side by side with those of humans wearing similar expressions.
According to the website Shanghaiist.com, the special exhibit was portraying the works of Chinese photographer Yu Huiping, which are aimed at giving visitors a sense of "primitive life" in Africa through the interplay of humans, animals and nature.
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Yu, the vice-president of Hubei's Photographers Association, has visited Africa more than 20 times over the past decade and says that he has a deep love for its people and wildlife, promoting the conservation of its natural resources and beauty.
According to the New York Times, a curator at the exhibit, Wang Yuejun, said the decision to hang the photos of people and animals together was his own idea, and not that of Mr. Yu.
“The target of the exhibition is mainly a Chinese audience,” Mr. Wang said in a statement, adding that comparisons between people and animals are common in China and often a compliment.
According to him, Chinese people relate to their animal familiars assigned by the Chinese zodiac and “in Chinese proverbs, animals are always used for admiration and compliment.”
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Once it was brought to his attention, Mr. Wang said, that “putting the photos of African tribespeople and animals together hurt the feelings of the African tribespeople,” and to “show respect for our African friends’ opinions,” the offending pictures were removed.
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