Spanish museum set to show controversial exhibition that was cancelled in New York following protests

A CONTROVERSIAL exhibition which shows videos of pigs copulating has been taken on by a Spanish museum after being kicked out of New York.

The Theatre of the World, an installation by Chinese artist Huang Yong Ping, is made up of two cage-like structures, while a video from artist Xu Bing entitled A Case Study of Transference (1994) shows two pigs copulating while surrounded by members of the public. Both will be put on show at the Bilbao Guggenheim.

“The work explores the relationship between man, nature and culture. They are two pigs copulating, and one has Chinese pictograms on its skin, and the other, characters from our alphabet, in a kind of union between East and West. It’s a historical document; it doesn’t involve live pigs,” curator Alexandra Munroe said.

The exhibition was deactivated in New York following animal rights protests.

The show, which features live insects and reptiles, opens in Bilbao on May 11.

The Bilbao Guggenheim has defended the inclusion of the controversial works as an exercise of freedom of expression, and of respecting the artistic creative process – providing that no harm is caused to any animals.