Artists protest hate underlying attacks on Japan art festival english.kyodonews.net

More than 10 artists with work unrelated to the exhibition chose to boycott the festival or altered their work to condemn the closure and expressed "solidarity with the censored artists."
It said further that the hate speech and political pressure on the art festival "unfortunately reflect the pervasive entrenchment of discrimination against women in Japanese society today," adding that such discrimination affects "diverse genders."
In a country where only two out of six national museum directors are women, this is a rarity for an art festival in Japan.
To network their activities and unite to bring voices of artists and the public to the negotiating table for the reopening of the exhibition, artists have launched a project called ReFreedom_Aichi, which nearly 40 artists have joined.
(Shun Kato contributed reporting)Related coverage:No grant for art festival after "comfort women" exhibition fiasco