Hong Kong and China's persecuted artists

Kacey Wong left Hong Kong for Taiwan recently, citing lack of space for artistic expression. Famous for his political performance art, the Cornell-educated artist has targeted issues like the Tiananmen Massacre or Chinese censorship. Here he is seen doing his 2018 performance piece, "The Patriot," playing the Chinese national anthem on an accordion inside a red cage.

A strong supporter of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement, Anthony Wong (left) had performed a song entitled "A forbidden fruit per day" at a 2018 by-election campaign. "This song is about choice, whether society has a choice," he'd said. Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has now charged the singer with "corrupt conduct."

Cantopop singer, actress and pro-democracy activist Denise Ho remains blacklisted for joining Hong Kong’s 2014 Umbrella Movement. During a 2019 TED Talk, she said tyranny can't trump creativity. "Whether it is the protest on the streets that is taking a new fluidity, or the way that people reinvent themselves, the system needs time to counter it to find solutions."

The late Liu Xiaobo was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize for "his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China" while serving his fourth prison term. The Chinese writer, literary critic, human rights activist, and philosopher was arrested numerous times, and has been described as China's most prominent dissident and its most famous political prisoner.

Contemporary artist and political dissident Ai Weiwei was jailed in 2011 purportedly for tax evasion. He was released after 81 days and this diorama is a chilling account of his incarceration. Ai is clear about the purpose of his art: "If my art has any meaning, it is as a tool for freedom. If I see people victimized by authoritarianism, I am a soldier in defending their freedom."

Filmmaker and author Zhou Qing has paid a high price for writing about taboo topics. In a 2011 interview, he said, "In China, possession of the truth has brought people endless grief. A normal citizen who knows the truth and speaks it might lose his or her family or job. A writer who reveals truth courts the danger of imprisonment. An official who insists on truth might lose his or her life."

Born and raised in Shanghai, Badiucao is a renowned Chinese political cartoonist, artist and rights activist who moved to Australia to study in 2009, and has lived there since. He adopted this pen-name to protect his identity. He makes political statements by mashing satire and pop culture with typical images from Communist Party propaganda. President Xi Jinping is a recurrent subject of his.

Initially feted by Chinese state media as "the pride of China" for her Best Director win at the 2021 Golden Globes, Beijing-born Chloe Zhao's Oscar win later went largely ignored, with social media mentions of it being scrubbed. It is speculated that her 2013 interview with Filmmaker Magazine, in which she described as China "a place where there are lies everywhere" was the reason for the snub.