M+ to draw 'extra cautious' vetting

Authorities will be "extra cautious" about art, including by dissident-artist Ai Weiwei, that endanger national security, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said.

One of Ai's collections that references the Tiananmen Square crackdown will be displayed at the opening of the M+ museum of visual culture at year-end in West Kowloon.

New People's Party's lawmaker Eunice Yung Hoi-yan said yesterday she frowned upon the M+ show for allegedly violating the security law.

She demanded a department be set up to censor exhibits ahead of that.

"Why does the [West Kowloon] cultural district that has spent so much public money and resources display works that allegedly violate the security law and insult the country's dignity?"

Lam said she understood Yung's worries over M+ as all Hongkongers have to safeguard national security since the law took effect on June 30.

The government respects freedom of artistic expression, she said, but it will be on alert to ensure exhibits do not undermine national security.

"I think the line between what is freedom of artistic expression, what spreads hatred, damages relations between two regions [Hong Kong and Beijing] and what undermines national security can be differentiated."

M+ director Suhanya Raffel said it has no problem showcasing Ai's works and other controversial pieces as its exhibitions are based on historical facts.

A spokesman said M+ will comply with the laws whilst maintaining the highest level of professional integrity.

"Its exhibition and collection development is based on research and academic rigor," he said. "Like any museum, it is the role of M+ to ensure our collections and exhibitions are presented in a relevant and appropriate manner to stimulate discussion, research, learning, knowledge and pleasure."

That came as Wen Wei Po revealed yesterday Ying E Chi Cinema, distributor of the documentary film Inside the Red Brick Wall, had received HK$2.78 million in funding from the Arts Development Council.

The film about Polytechnic University siege in 2019 was pulled from screening Monday after the newspaper slammed the film for allegedly violating the security law.

DAB lawmaker Elizabeth Quat Pui-fan criticized Ying E Chi for "using government money to go against the government."

Ying E Chi's artistic director Vincent Tsui Wan-shun said if the council is unable to uphold freedom of expression, then the cessation of funding is all but expected.