V&A censored catalogues after demands by Chinese printer | Museums

One of Britain’s leading museums has agreed to demands from a Chinese company that publishes its catalogs to remove images that violate the country’s censorship laws.

The Victoria and Albert Museum has agreed to requests from a Chinese printing company to delete maps and images from its two most recent exhibition catalogues, according to documents released to the Guardian following freedom of information requests.

The V&A, like other leading institutions such as the British Museum, Tate and British Library, often uses Chinese printers because they can produce catalogs at half the price of British or European companies.

However, while doing this, they also have to accept censorship demands. Relating to any subject or image deemed sensitive by the Chinese government, such as Buddhism, Taiwan, Tibet, Tiananmen Square, and pro-democracy activities.

Revelations from the V&A reveal the detailed scope of China’s censorship of museum publishers. They show how Beijing’s red pen extends to historical maps and photographs on seemingly unrelated subjects such as Fabergé eggs and British Black music.

They also show the apparent willingness of a publicly funded UK institution to accept Chinese pressure despite the problems it might cause in the production process.

For the catalog of the Music Is Black exhibition, which opens this Friday, the V&A wanted to use a 1930s illustration of the trade routes of the British empire. But an email from the V&A’s Chinese printers last November said this had run afoul of Beijing’s censorship agency, the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP).

The email from Chinese printer C&C Offset Printing said: “On page 10 there is a map of China (there is a Chinese border here and we need to use the Chinese Government’s standard maps) and GAPP rejected it. Our recommendation is to delete this map or use another image.”

Despite surprise at the decision, the V&A accepted the decision. Internal email exchanges between V&A colleagues revealed that censorship had caused a delay in the catalogue’s printing. It said: “This is a historical map showing British colonial rule, so it has nothing to do with China – it just shows China on the map and that seems enough to warrant rejection! Printing has been paused while we change files… PERFECT”.

The map would show Gus Casely-Hayford, director of the V&A East, entering the catalogue. An email sent to him said it was too late to find alternative printers.

He said: “We were aware of the sensitivity around contemporary maps, but this now obviously applies to historical maps too. Having ordered the paper from the printer, it was unfortunately too late to ship the print to Europe, so we had to push back the schedule by a week to come up with a new illustration.”

Casely-Hayford responded: “I’m so sorry, it must have been very stressful.” He also suggested replacing the censored map with a photo of musician Dennis Morris. Finally the V&A used a photograph of people arriving in Southampton on the ship Begoña after a voyage from the West Indies.

The V&A has also agreed to draw another map it wanted to use for the catalog into the 2021 Fabergé: Romance to Revolution exhibition. A photo of Lenin was also removed from the book because Chinese printers said Lenin might be deemed “sensitive” by GAPP.

An email from the V&A production team to one of its curators expressed frustration with the censorship. It read: “The Chinese printer cannot print the book with the picture of revolution/Lenin at the beginning of your article. I should have foreseen this, but the list of restrictions keeps changing.”

The V&A said in a statement that the changes requested by China in these catalogues were “minor”.

The statement said: “We carefully consider where to print all of our books, one by one. We sometimes print in China, but maintain tight editorial oversight. We were comfortable making minor edits as they did not affect the narrative, and of course we would halt production if we felt any requested changes were problematic.”

Tate, the British Museum and the British Library have also used Chinese printing presses in their latest catalogs and in books currently for sale in their stores.

The British Museum has refused to answer questions about how it handled Chinese censorship requests for at least eight publications printed in China.

A spokesman said: “We work with a range of printers across Europe and Asia. Print orders to suppliers are placed based on a number of factors including quality, availability of materials, schedule and cost.” The spokesman added: “We will not be commenting further on the matter.”

The British Museum is chaired by George Osborne, who as chancellor advocated closer economic ties with Beijing and encouraged economic development. “golden decade” In UK-China relations.

The British Library claimed that it had never had a problem with censorship in the catalogs it printed in China.

A Tate spokesman confirmed that Chinese printers had published many children’s books and some catalogues, but added: “Tate Publishing has never changed the content of any book at the request of a printer.”

A UK publisher, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “We’ve tried printing in this country but it’s too expensive. We’ve just had a quote from a Welsh printer for double what we paid in China. There’s always a delay in the printing process when it goes through the agency that controls things in China. There are sensitivities around maps and anything that mentions Tibet, for example.”

A former employee of C&C Offset Printing said: “Printing content that is not approved by the Chinese government is of course prohibited. Why should it be surprising? It’s a Chinese company.”