The British Museum is removing a segment of its landmark exhibition on China after a writer alleged that her translations of a Chinese revolutionary’s poetry had been “plagiarised”.
Yilin Wang, an award-winning translator, poet and editor who lives in Vancouver, said she did not receive any credit or reimbursement for translations of Qiu Jin’s work that she claims are hers. They appeared in the exhibition and catalogue of the museum’s China’s Hidden Century exhibition.
“Hey [British Museum], it’s come to my attention that your exhibit ‘China’s hidden century’ uses my translations of Qiu Jin’s poetry, but you never contacted me for permission,” Wang wrote on Twitter. “Please note this is a copyright infringement! How are you going to fix this?”
In a lengthy thread, the writer then linked to articles which include translations she alleges to be her own. Wang emphasised the amount of effort she put into them, including reading more than 200 of Qiu Jin’s poems “about five times”, and taking “a week to several months, perhaps at an average of 20-50hrs” to research and translate each poem.
She added: “I am demanding all my translations to be removed from the China’s Hidden Century exhibit and all materials pertaining to the exhibit (including the exhibition books, all video/photo/display materials, all signage, all digital or print materials such as brochures, and anywhere else where translations have appeared), unless the museum makes a proper offer to compensate me and the compensation is immediately given.”
The British Museum has said it makes every effort to contact copyright owners of images, print and digital media it uses, and has removed the assets in question as an act of good faith until the matter is resolved.
In a statement, the museum said: “The British Museum takes copyright permissions seriously. We have been in touch with Yilin Wang directly to discuss this matter.”
It is understood that the first time the museum was made aware of the matter was via Wang’s Twitter thread.
The China’s Hidden Century exhibition is the result of a four-year research project supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, led by the British Museum and London University, and was made in collaboration with more than 100 scholars from 14 countries.
The show consists of 300 objects, half from the British Museum and half borrowed from 30 different British and international lenders – with most being publicly displayed for the first time. Many items have been refurbished by conservators over the course of several years.
Celebrated in the exhibition is the life and legacy of Qiu Jin (1875 – 1907), a revolutionary, feminist and poet who was executed by beheading at the age of 31. The exhibition ends with a wall devoted to a rotating sequence of photos of Qiu alongside English translations of her poetry and a recording of one of her songs performed by the London Chinese Philharmonic Choir.
Some of the English translations of Qiu’s work, which Wang claims were done by her, include: “As my heart shatters with rage over my homeland’s troubles, how can I linger, a guest abroad, savouring spring winds?” and “Don’t speak of how women can’t become heroes”.
The Guardian has approached Wang for comment.
