Badiucao

Badiucao is an exiled Chinese dissident artist based in Australia whose work spans political cartoons, installations, street art and performances. His art is renowned for denouncing human rights abuses and the suppression of free speech in China. His political engagement dates back to 2007 when he watched a documentary leaked by activists to expose heavily censored information about the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre. This was a turning point for Badiucao who started using art as a means to defy dictatorship, and raise awareness about the systemic abuses committed by the Chinese Communist Party.

Badiucao’s own family in China has been targeted by the regime’s repressive apparatus for his activism. Prior to several of his family members receiving threats from the government, Badiucao remained anonymous. After years of using a pseudonym, he decided to step out and accepted media interviews on camera. Today, his artwork is at the forefront of raising awareness about human rights abuses in not only mainland China, but also in Hong Kong, Tibet, Xinjiang, and Burma. Badiucao is a winner of the 2020 HRF Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent.