Hou Hanru

Hou Hanru, born 1963 in Guangzhou, China, is an international curator and critic based in Rome, Paris, and San Francisco. He is the artistic director of MAXXI in Rome, and Consulting Curator at the Guggenheim Museum, New York. Over the past two decades, Hou has curated and co-curated over 100 exhibitions around the world, including biennials and triennials in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Istanbul, Venice, Lyon, Auckland and Johannesburg. He is a founding member of the Guggenheim’s Asian Art Council, a curatorial think tank. His recent project with the Guggenheim, Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World (2017–18), co-curated with Alexandra Munroe and Philip Tirani, drew outrage from animal rights activists over works that incorporated footage of animals, as well as one work that used live reptiles and insects. After the museum received threats of violence, it removed the three controversial works from the show.

Art, Freedom, and the Politics of Social Justice

36 min Read Now

In partnership with National Coalition Against Censorship

Art, Freedom, and the Politics of Social Justice

By Sam Durant Noelle Garcia Hou Hanru Oleg Mavromatti, and 5 more

Introduction Over the past few years, artworks that touch upon painful histories have sparked heated controversies. While the artists behind such works have invariably had a social purpose and sought