Tania Bruguera withdraws from Kochi Muziris Biennale over Cuban censorship law

Artist and activist Tania Bruguera has canceled her participation in the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, which opened on 12 December 2018, to protest Cuba's Decree 349. She was scheduled to deliver a lecture performance at the event but will stay in Cuba to oppose the law, which mandates Ministry of Culture approval for exhibitions in public or private spaces and is set for gradual implementation. Bruguera, arrested early last week with other cultural figures and released on 6 December, had been planning a sit-in at the Ministry of Culture. She criticizes the decree for establishing a 'cultural police' through inspectors, criminalizing previously subjective matters. The Kochi-Muziris Foundation issued a statement supporting free expression and the right to debate for the global art community.