The National Gallery of Victoria has been accused by high profile activist Denise Ho and Chinese-Australian political cartoonist Badiucao of censorship after the venue refused to host their upcoming panel about art and resistance in Hong Kong.

Badiucao said gallery representatives told volunteer organisers last week that the venue was available on the requested date, but they raised security concerns which needed to be discussed internally.

The next day, the NGV sent an email in which it rejected the event without citing a reason. Badiucao shared the email on Twitter, where he described the decision as “extremely unacceptable” and “self-censorship”.

On Tuesday evening, the NGV released a statement saying it supported “artists’ rights to express a range of artistic and political viewpoints” but it maintained it “was unable to accommodate the security and logistics required to book this event with short notice.”

Hong Kong police defend firing live round during latest protests Read more

But Badiucao argues the NGV’s decision had less to do with security than with its current flagship exhibition, which features eight of the Qin emperor’s Terracotta Warriors on loan from China.

“I have doubts [that it’s about security],” Badiucao told the Guardian. “Does the NGV not have security teams to help out in situations like these? Even if they didn’t, they could reach out to us to ask if we could provide an extra layer of security [through crowdfunding] … and the Victoria Police have been very supportive in maintaining the safety and security in recent clashes too.”

He said that the Terracotta Warriors were important historical artefacts, but in the current climate their display could not be divorced from the politics.

“I don’t think the NGV have discussed the real meaning of the Terracotta Warriors properly,” Badiucao said. “Yes they have historic value but if we look a little bit deeper, they are soldiers in an army. The soldiers belonged to the first king [emperor Qin Shi Huang] who united China thousands of years ago … it’s not just about culture. It’s also about this ideology of a united China. It’s also about authoritarianism.”

He said the NGV would be well aware of the importance and senstivity of the issue after three months of demonstrations in Hong Kong, which recently led to violent clashes in Melbourne.

“Maybe that’s why they refused the event. But I can never be sure until they give us a proper explanation, which is what we have asked for.”

The event, titled Be Water: Hong Kong vs China, has been rescheduled for 4 September at the Melbourne City conference centre. It will also feature Ho, a Cantopop singer and activist whose 2014 song Raise the Umbrella became an anthem of the Umbrella Revolution, leading to her arrest at a pro-democracy rally in Hong Kong. Recently, Ho spoke at the United Nations human rights council urging the UN to “convene an urgent session to protect the people of Hong Kong”. Her speech was interrupted twice by Chinese officials.

On Twitter on Monday, Ho decried the NGV’s decision. “Self-censorship is real,” she said. “If everyone turns away due to fear, what will our world become?”

Venues were “censoring those who have done nothing”, she said.

Denise Ho (HOCC) (@hoccgoomusic) If there are Chinese students bullying ppl, then measures should be taken against these uncivilized ppl. Instead these venues are censoring those who have done nothing.



Are you willing to become accomplices to these barbarians? I believe Australians are stronger than that.

巴丢草 Badiucao (@badiucao) @NGVMelbourne & Mleb venues reject the event about Art & Resistance in Hong Kong featuring talk between Denise Ho @hoccgoomusic & @badiucao due to “security concern”

Art should b the frontline defending free speech.

Real Shame for NGV self-censoring speech challenging Beijing！ pic.twitter.com/izRZUhk6nH

In emails seen by the Guardian, the Melbourne Museum also refused to host the panel, saying, “due to the nature of your event … we will need to decline”. The Melbourne Convention Exhibition Centre also declined, citing “short timeframes and [the event’s] specific security requirements”.

Instagram censors Melbourne artist's anti-Beijing post but ignores trolls Read more

Badiucao told the Guardian he was “very upset and frustrated” not to have been offered a “proper explanation” from the NGV.

“[The NGV] is such an important venue and institution in Australia. It is funded by the government. It definitely has … responsibility to defend free speech,” he said.

“I believe as artists we have a responsibility to defend free speech, especially in a free society [like Australia]. If we don’t do it, how do we expect people in a very extreme situation to? Yet in Hong Kong they have been, for almost two months. So there is no way for us to escape this responsibility.”

The panel in Melbourne will be moderated by the BBC’s former Beijing correspondent Louisa Lim. It will feature Badiucao and Ho alongside Clive Hamilton, the Australian historian and academic whose recent book, the Silent Invasion, examined China’s growing influence in Australia.

Badiucao said all sides were invited to take part in a Q&A after the panel. “We want everyone to be allowed to express themselves, and interact with everyone on the stage. I really hope this can be an opportunity for meaningful dialogue, instead of the violence we have seen.”