CHENG, Ting-Ting

Represented by Galerie Grand Siècle. Born in 1985, Taipei, Taiwan.

Education

2014 MFA Fine Art, Goldsmiths College, London

2009 MA Photographic Studies, University of Westminster, London

Solo Exhibitions

2017 On the desert island, Stuart Hall Library (Iniva), London Tristes Tropiques, Luis Adelantado, Valencia

2016 Moving Forward, Nomart Gallery, Osaka ...as dramatic as..., Xianger, Zhongli (Taiwan)

2015 Post-, Galerie Grand Siècle, Taipei

2014 I know what you are trying to say II, Nomart Gallery, Osaka

2013 Seeing is not Believing, Luis Adelantado, Valencia

        The observer, Identity Gallery, Hong Kong

        Jo vull aprendre Mallorqui, SACMA, Manacor

        Distance in Between, Galerie Grand Siècle, Taipei

2012 I know what you are trying to say, Rowan Arts, London

2011 Object Fantasy, Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taipei

        Jo vull Aprendre Mallorqui, Addaya Art Centre, Mallorca

2010 Things We May Never Know, Kiállítás Előtt Galéria, Budapest

Selected Group Exhibitions, Biennales Screenings and Art Fairs

2017 Between Art and Mathematics: Decoding the Artworks, Art Bank, Taichung

2016 De regreso a la isla, Casal Solleric, Mallorca

        Bio Apartment Vol.3, Geology Museum at National Taiwan University, Taipei

        Hieroglyphic Memory: Surveying Bangka Through Narrative Trace, Bopiliao Historical Block, Taipei

        DIY Culture, Rich Mix, London

        Femmes’ Video Art Festival, Situation Room, Los Angeles

2015 A certain state of mind, Luis Adelantado, Valencia

        19th Contemporary Art Festival Sesc_Videobrasil: Southern Panoramas paraflows .X DIGITAL

        MIGRATION, Künstlerhaus Wien, Vienna

        DongGang International Photo Festival, South Korea

        ARCO, Madrid

        Zona Maco, Mexico

2014 You Are Here, Kingsgate Gallery with Camden Art Centre, London

        Red Pill, Galeria H, Taipei

        Goldsmiths MFA Fine Art Degree show, London Art 14, London

        Art Stage, Singapore

2013 No one river flows, KuanDu Museum, Taipei

        Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architechture, Shenzen

        Connecting in a strange place, Guest Spot, Baltimore

        Inter-vision: A Contemporary Art Exhibition Across the Strait, National Taiwan Museum of Fine

        Art, Taichung / National Art Museum of China, Beijing

        Next Super Star, Cans Art, Taipei

        Innovation and Recreation, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Art, Taichung

2012 MIT Art Taipei, Taipei

        Austronesian International Arts Award, Taitung Art Museum, Taitung (Taiwan)

        PI (ᴨ), Art and Culture Laboratory, Krk (Croatia)

        Classifieds, Sheffield Institute of Arts Gallery, Sheffield (UK)

        III Moscow International Biennale for Young Art, Moscow

        Tokyo Frontline, Tokyo

        London Art Fair, London

        Nord Art, Büdelsdorf (Germany)

2011 Taipei Art Award, Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taipei

        Meta Communication, Taiwan Photo Museum, Taipei

        Pingyiao International Photography Festival, Pingyiao (China)

        XIII International Call for young artists, Gallery Luis Adelantado, Valencia

        Home and Away, ISE Cultural Foundation, New York

        The Chosen, Red Gallery, London

        TBS love emergent Artists, Private Space Gallery, Barcelona

2010 Closer, Visionaris’10 Photography Festival, Fundacion Pilar y Joan Miro, Mallorca FAB Fringe Art Bath, Bath

        European Month of Art and Photography, Berlin

        Home and Away, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester

        Stratford Everyday, English Heritage Programme, Theatre Royal Stratford East, London

Artist in Residency

2017 Stuart Hall Library, INIVA, London

2016 Xianger Art Space, Zhongli (Taiwan)

2014 Beatrice Tate School, London

2012 Zero Station, Ho Chi Minh City

        GlogauAIR, Berlin

2011 Addaya Centre d'Art Contemporani, Mallorca

2009 Ben-Uri Gallery, London

Selected Grant and Prize

2016 National Culture and Arts Foundation Art Grant, Taiwan

2015 Asian Creative Award, Asian Exchange Award, Japan

2014 Taipei City Department of Cultural Affairs Art Grant, Taiwan

2012 Taipei City Department of Cultural Affairs Art Grant, Taiwan

        National Culture and Arts Foundation Art Grant, Taiwan Ministry of Culture Art Grant, Taiwan

        Asian Pioneer Photographer (Silver), China

        Islington Exhibits Artist Award, UK

        40 under 40 by Perspective, Hong Kong

        Austronesian International Arts Award (short listed), Taiwan

2011 Taipei City Department of Cultural Affairs Art Grant, Taiwan

        Council for Cultural Affairs Art Grant, Taiwan

        Phoenix Hope Education Foundation, Taiwan

        10Gales Art Prize (short listed), UK

        Taipei Arts Award (short listed), Taiwan

2010 Artificial Image Award (Edition), Germany

        Emengent El Pati de la Llotja, Spain

        Art Idol 2010 (short listed), UK

2009 Signature Photography Award, Degree art, UK

        Artist without studio Prize, Ben-Uri Gallery, UK

Commission

2017 Iniva and Stuart Hall Foundation, London

2016 DIY Festival, London

2015 19th Contemporary Art Festival Sesc_Videobrasil: Southern Panoramas, Sao Paulo

2014 Pfea, Beatrice Tate School, London

Institutional Collection

2015 Videobrasil, Sao Paulo

2014 Art Bank, Taichung (Taiwan)

2013 Fundación Juan Entrecanales de Azcarate National, Madrid

        Fundació per amor a l'art, Valencia

2012 Taiwan Museum of Fine Art, Taichung (Taiwan)

2011 Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taipei

        Addaya Centre d'Art Contemporani, Mallorca

「但親愛的，你幹嘛不自己寫你的歷史呢?」

“but hon, why don’t you write your own history?“

展出藝術家｜鄭亭亭 Artist｜CHENG Ting-Ting

開幕時間｜2017/10/18(三) 6:00pm Opening｜2017/10/18(Wed.) 6:00pm

展覽時間｜2017/10/18(三) - 2017/ 11/19(日) Duration｜2017/10/18(Wed.)- 2017/ 11/19(Sun.)

睽違兩年，新苑藝術將於2017年10月18日至11月19日推出新苑藝術家鄭亭亭個展「但親愛的，你幹嘛不自己寫你的歷史呢?」，開幕活動將定於10月18日周三晚間六點。藝術家鄭亭亭長年旅居英國，作品顯露出對於社會文化強烈的好奇心，經常對既有現象或社會問題提出詰問，再以錄像、攝影、或裝置等不同媒介呈現其研究過程及成果。此次個展「但親愛的，你幹嘛不自己寫你的歷史呢?」包含兩個系列創作 —「Robert Storey（寂寞星球台灣）」及「Ten Thousand Chinese Things」，分別探討台灣和東亞地區在西方(全球)觀點下被形塑出的不同樣貌。

新作系列中，鄭亭亭試圖凸顯話語權在身分及意識建構上的重要性。在「Robert Storey」中，她蒐集Robert Storey自 1987年至2001年間所出版五個版本的「寂寞星球台灣」，挑出各版本中相同的段落進行比對，再標示出段落中改變的關鍵詞，如早先版本中的「中國」，在後出版版本中被改標為「台灣」，以探究西方觀點下「台灣」概念的演變。而另一系列「Ten Thousand Chinese Things」，則是以歐洲相當知名的瓷器圖案Blue Willow(藍色柳樹)為研究對象，不只在視覺上極具東方風格，甚至有著一個講述員外家小姐為愛私奔的淒美傳說。雖然藍色柳樹圖案並非傳自東方，愛情故事也是由瓷器商編造，Blue Willow卻在全球蔚為風潮、量產並印刷於瓷器上。藝術家透過「但親愛的，你幹嘛不自己寫你的歷史呢?」，提出不論Robert Storey和Blue Willow所建構的東方是否為真正的東方，生自東方、長於東方的我們，都應反思所謂「真正的」東方由誰所建構？又由誰定義？

鄭亭亭於輔仁大學大傳系畢業後，即赴英修讀碩士，後於2009年自西敏大學取得攝影藝術學碩士學位，2014年自倫敦大學金匠學院純藝術碩士畢業。旅居英國的鄭亭亭，曾至英國、西班牙、日本、香港、匈牙利、台灣等地舉辦個展，也曾至倫敦、柏林、馬略卡島、胡志明市駐村。重要獎項包括日本亞洲創意獎、台北美術獎(入選)、英國Islington藝術家獎等，並受香港透視雜誌選為40大亞洲藝術家。作品典藏於台灣藝術銀行、國立台灣美術館、台北市立美術館、巴西Videobrasil、西班牙Addaya藝術中心等機構。

媒體聯絡人: 楊博婷    電話:02-2577-1676    Email: xinyuangallery.news@gmail.com

「但親愛的，你幹嘛不自己寫你的歷史呢?」

“but hon, why don’t you write your own history?“

展出藝術家｜鄭亭亭 Artist｜CHENG Ting-Ting

開幕時間｜2017/10/18(三) 6:00pm Opening｜2017/10/18(Wed.) 6:00pm

展覽時間｜2017/10/18(三) - 2017/ 11/19(日) Duration｜2017/10/18(Wed.)- 2017/ 11/19(Sun.)

Galerie Grand Siècle is going to present the solo exhibition of the represented artist CHENG Ting-Ting, but hon, why don’t you write your own history? after two years’ interval. The opening will be inaugurated at 6 p.m. on Wed, October 18th. It will be on view from October 18th to November 19th in 2017. CHENG Ting-Ting has long been a UK-based artist. Her works reveal the prominent curiosity on sociocultural issues and probe into the existing phenomenon and social issues; the research processes and results are visualized through various mediums such as video, photography, and installation. This solo exhibition but hon, why don’t you write your own history? contains two series, Robert Storey and Ten Thousand Chinese Things which respectively investigate the many manifestations of Taiwan and East Asia that were formed, shaped and viewed from western (global) perspectives.

In the two series, CHENG Ting-Ting attempts to underline the importance of power of discourse during constructing an identity and ideology. Robert Storey, after collecting the five editions of Lonely Planet Taiwan published from 1987 to 2001, in each edition she found the mutual paragraph and marked the keyword changes to scrutinize the development of western views on the concept of “Taiwan.” For instance, “China” mentioned in the former edition was revised into “Taiwan” in the latter one. As to Ten Thousand Chinese Things, its object of research is Blue Willow pattern, which has considerable reputation in Europe. Blue Willow pattern is not only eminently Oriental in terms of visual style, but carries a beautifully tragic story about a landlord’s daughter who eloped for love.  Although this pattern was not passed from the Eastern world; even the love story was fabricated by porcelain merchants, it had gained worldwide popularity, being massively produced and printed on porcelain commodities.  Through but hon, why don’t you write your own history? CHENG raised the question to be reflected by us, as we are born and grew up in the Eastern country, that what matters is not whether the concept of the East constructed by Robert Storey and Blue Willow is accurate or not but—who had constructed and defined the “genuine” East?

CHENG Ting-Ting, right after she graduated from Mass Communication Department of Fu Jen University, headed to the U.K. for master studies. Afterwards, CHENG received MA degree of Photographic Studies in University of Westminster in 2009, and MFA degree of Fine Arts in Goldsmiths College in 2014. While living in the U.K. for years, CHENG Ting-Ting had solo exhibitions in the U.K., Spain, Japan, Hong Kong, Hungary, Taiwan, etc., and ever participated in artist residency programs in London, Berlin, Mallorca, and Ho Chi Minh City. The selected grants and prizes received include Asian Creative Award, Japan, Taipei Arts Award (short listed), Islington Exhibits Artist Award in the UK, the 40 under 40 organized by Perspective Magazine from Hong Kong. The institutional collectors of her works include Art Bank of Taiwan, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Videobrasil in Brazil, and Addaya Art Centre in Spain.

本次個展「but hon, why don’t you write your own history?」 （但親愛的，你幹嘛不自己寫你的歷史呢？）為旅英藝術家鄭亭亭與新苑藝術，自從2012年合作以來，第三次在台灣的個展。本次的展覽藉由兩個系列作品—「Robert Storey（寂寞星球台灣）」以及「Ten Thousand Chinese Things」來討論台灣和東亞在全球歷史與身份認同上，詮釋（或被詮釋）的話語權，藉由美國旅遊作家Robert Storey在1987到2001年間所出版的台灣寂寞星球，以及一個來自英國的知名瓷器圖案Blue Willow Pattern（藍色柳樹），來討論一個從西方角度所“創造”出來的東方。

Robert Storey（寂寞星球台灣）系列包含錄像、平面輸出以及裱框書頁。該系列於2013年完成後，曾經在英國倫敦Goldsmiths College、香港Identity藝廊以及深圳香港建築雙年展中展出，本次展覽為該系列第一次在台灣展出，對於這個討論台灣身份認同的作品獨具意義。在對一系列以英文出版的台灣旅行指南做研究之後，鄭亭亭決定將羅伯特·斯托瑞（Robert Storey）從1987年至2001年所寫的五個版本的《孤獨星球（台灣）》 （Lonely Planet Taiwan）作為本系列的主要素材。她採集了每一個版本中相同的段落，撕下書頁，標記出被更動的關鍵詞，藉此反映西方觀點對於東方/台灣的刻板印象，探索台灣在社會、身份及政治上的轉變，以及搖擺不定的東西方關係。例如在Smiling（微笑）中，內容描述著西方人對於東亞文化的刻板印象（台灣人無論如何都帶著微笑），而主詞從非常廣泛的The Orient（東方，在某些文化中帶有著對於東方的貶義），到Asia（亞洲），到Taiwan（台灣）。又如在Speaking too frankly當中，主詞從China（中國），變成Taiwan（台灣），從Chinese（中國人），變成a local（當地人）。

在錄像裝置Snake Alley（蛇街）中，鄭亭亭從Youtube網站搜集並剪輯外國遊客在台北著名旅遊景點華西街吃蛇菜肴的影片，同時，她將旅遊指南中介紹華西街的英文文字翻譯成中文，依出版時序（從1981年到2013年）排列，再以中文朗讀，作為影片的旁白，而字幕的部分，她邀請了會說中文的外國人將她的中文朗讀再翻譯回英文。這看似荒謬的影片反映著觀光產業中，為了迎合西方觀點中對於東方的刻板印象而被保留下來的文化。

最後，在Mountains II（山岳二）當中，鄭亭亭將所有在英文出版的台灣旅遊指南中，有著相同風格的山岳照片掃描並輸出放大，連成一線，反映著西方觀點中對於東方美學既有形象。藉由這三件作品，鄭亭亭試圖從西方的觀點中，來尋找台灣自身的定位，同時批評這些從他者投射過來的刻板印象。

「Ten Thousand Chinese Things」系列作品是藝術家鄭亭亭從2015年開始，一直進行到現在的研究計劃，其中同名單頻道錄像曾在英國Margate女性錄像藝術節以及美國洛杉磯女性錄像藝術節展出，本次展覽為該作品首次在台灣展出。

另外，該系列中的行為記錄（錄像以及裝置）「The blue willow plate」、「The copying of the blue willow」、「The copies of the blue willow」更是鄭亭亭於今年為了本次的展覽延續的創作，為全球首次展出。

系列名稱Ten Thousand Chinese Things來自於英國倫敦於1842年在海德公園所舉辦的展覽，在該展覽中，歐洲各地的收藏家們展出自己所收藏來自於東方的物件。該展覽在Chinoiserie（歐洲史觀所建構出來對於東方（尤其是中國）的形象以及刻板印象）的歷史上佔有一個很重要的地位。 而本次的作品專注於Chinoiserie研究中，非常具有代表性的瓷器圖案Blue Willow （藍色柳樹），該圖案出於18世紀的英國。在18世紀以前，歐洲沒有製造並印刷於瓷器上的技術，於是他們大量地向中國進口瓷器，中國東方風格的瓷器在當地變得非常昂貴，成為了上流社會中爭相收藏的珍品。在18世紀之後，英國研發出相似的技術，於是開始自己生產瓷器，但由於東方風格還是收藏家的最愛，於是瓷器設計師便設計了該藍色柳樹圖案，此外，為了讓該圖案更有東方風味，更讓人信服，一個該瓷器圖案所描述的傳說故事也因此產生了。該故事描述著在古老的中國，有一個有錢的員外，不讓自己的女兒嫁給她所愛的男子，希望強迫她嫁給另一個有錢的政府官員，於是女兒和該男子就連夜逃跑，最後變成白鴿快樂的住在遠方的小島上。該瓷器在出廠後大受好評，藍色柳樹變成了一個全歐洲，甚至全球的風潮，收藏家們感動於圖案所描述的浪漫淒美的愛情故事，後期甚至連中國或是日本的瓷器品牌都有輸出該圖案的瓷器。一直到現在，都還有許多人誤會藍色柳樹圖案是源於中國。

而這個虛構出來，帶有中國東方風味的圖案，完美地呈現出Chinoiserie裡，歐洲西方觀點對於東方的想像，後來的研究學者也指出，當初設計的故事中，有錢的員外代表著傳統中國獨裁王朝的負面形象，而年輕的情侶以及小島影射著當初的香港，看似浪漫的故事變成了英國統治香港正當化的宣傳武器。而後來中國的工廠也開始生產藍色柳樹的瓷器，更凸顯出話語權在身份認同以及歷史建構中的重要性。問題不在該圖案是否呈現“真正”的中國，而是誰有權力來決定什麼是真正的中國？

在本次展出的作品中，藝術家鄭亭亭利用錄像，幽默的點出上述的故事。在行為記錄中，藝術家身為東方人，反過來拷貝該藍色柳樹圖案，在廉價的紙盤上重複的嘗試學習畫出在倫敦賣場裡買到的藍色柳樹瓷盤，並用錄像記錄下大約70小時的工作過程，並展出日漸“進步”，畫的越來越像的紙盤們，諷刺歐洲中心論（Eurocentric）所建構出來的東方身份認同—「我是亞洲人因為你跟我說我是亞洲人，你告訴我這是我的文化，所以這是我的文化。」

本次的展覽名稱「but hon, why don’t you write your own history?」（但親愛的，你幹嘛不自己寫你的歷史呢？）諷刺地描述天真的西方觀點，其忽略歷史上一向不平衡的話語權，藉由兩個系列中歐美眼中的東方，來強調話語權的重要性。

The solo exhibition but hon, why don’t you write your own history? is the UK-based artist CHENG Ting-Ting’s third time exhibiting in Taiwan, Galerie Grand Siecle, since 2012. Through the two series, Robert Storey ‘Lonely Planet Taiwan’ and Ten Thousand Chinese Things, CHENG exemplifies Taiwan and Eastern Asia’s interpreted right of discourse in global historical perspective and ethnic identity. Robert Storey ‘Lonely Planet Taiwan’ collects different editions of the book Lonely Planet Taiwan, written by American travel writer Robert Storey, from 1987 to 2001. And Ten Thousand Chinese Things forms discussion on Blue Willow Pattern, a noted pattern on chinaware from England. With the two series, CHENG Ting-Ting intends to discuss the East “created” by Western spectacles.

    The series, Robert Storey ‘Lonely Planet Taiwan’ contains video, printing, and framed book pages. It was created in 2013 and exhibited at London Goldsmiths College, Identity Gallery in Hong Kong, and Bi-city biennale of urbanism/architecture in Shen Zhen and Hong Kong, and this solo exhibition is its first showcase in Taiwan. Regarding its discussion on Taiwan’s identity; this series is rather unique and meaningful to Taiwanese. After studying a few Taiwan travel guidebooks in English, CHENG decides to use five editions of Robert Storey’s Lonely Planet Taiwan from 1987 to 2001 as the main material of this series. To indicate the stereotype of Taiwan (the East) in Western spectacles, she picks same paragraphs in each edition, tearing the pages, and then marked the key words that are altered, probing the changes of Taiwan’s society, identity, political situation, and the waving relation between the East and the West. For instance, in Smiling, the paragraph describes Western stereotype appealing to Eastern Asia culture—Taiwanese are always smiling no matter what happens; moreover, the subjects they used changed from the wide concept, “The Orient,” (having negative meaning in certain culture) to “Asia”, then to “Taiwan.” Or as in Speaking too frankly, the subjects switch from “China,” to “Taiwan”, and then from “Chinese” to “a local.”

    In video installation Snake Alley, CHENG collects foreign tourists’ travel videos from Youtube, in which people eat snack dishes at Huaxi Street, a famous visit spot in Taipei, and then re-edits those videos. She also excerpts some writings introducing Huaxi Street in English from travel guidebooks, translating it into Chinese, arranging by years from 1981 to 2013, and then reciting those words in Chinese as background narration in the video.   As for the caption, she invites foreigners who can speak Chinese to recite the Chinese narration and translate back to English. The seemingly ridiculous video installation indeed reflects the phenomenon that in tourism industry, certain culture is preserved to correspond to Western stereotypes appealing to East.

    Lastly, in Mountains II, CHENG assembles mountain pictures in similar style from Taiwan guidebooks publishing in English, magnifying and printing it to point out a fixed imagination on Eastern aesthetics. Through these three works, CHENG tries to look for Taiwan’s own position in Western spectacles, meanwhile criticizing the stereotypes posed by others.

    Ten Thousand Chinese Things is an ongoing research have been conducted by CHENG Ting-Ting since 2015. With the series, a single channel video of the same name has been exhibited in UK Margate, USA, and this is its first time exhibited in Taiwan.

    Furthermore, performance records (video and device) in this series, The blue willow plate, The copying of the blue willow, The copies of the blue willow, are the continuing creations CHENG intends to display in this solo exhibition, which is also the first showcase of these works.

    Naming of the series, Ten Thousand Chinese Things, stems from an exhibition in U.K., London, Hyde Park, in 1842, during which collectors all over Europe came and displayed their picked objects from the East. The exhibition occupies a crucial position in the study of Chinoiserie, representation and stereotype constructed by European historical perspective toward the East (especially China). And the works this time focus on Blue Willow, a representative china pattern in the study of Chinoiserie. This pattern is made in 18 century, England. Before 18 century, as European lacked techniques to produce and print pattern on porcelain, they imported massive porcelain from China. Porcelain with Chinese, Eastern style therefore became very expensive in the area, turning into a treasure the upper society scrambled to buy. After 18 century, due to England’s development of similar technique, European started to make porcelain on their own. However, as collectors still favored Eastern style the most, porcelain merchants designed the Blue Willow pattern. Besides, as to make its Eastern style even richer, and more convincing, a legend story regarding the pattern henceforth was made. The story sets its scene in ancient China, at which a wealthy landlord forces his daughter to marry another wealthy governor, instead of the man she loves. The daughter, afterwards, runs away with her beloved man; both turn into white doves, living happily on a deserted island. The porcelain, after its first appearance, blew up all over Europe, even the whole world. Collectors were fascinated by the romantic, sad love story portrayed in the pattern. In later stage, even porcelain brands in China and Japan have printed the pattern on their merchandises. Until now, still many misunderstand the origin of Blue Willow pattern as China.

    And this fabled, China-styled pattern perfectly presents the East imagined in European Western perspectives in Chinoiserie. Scholars, later on, also indicated implication of the story: wealthy landlord as traditional dictator regime in China dynasty; young couple and the deserted island as Hong Kong at the time. The seemingly romantic love story in true turned into propaganda strategy for England to justify their domination in Hong Kong. And as Chinese merchants started to produce porcelain printed with Blue Willow pattern, the importance of the right of discourse gets even highlighted in the construction of identity and history. The problem, indeed, does not lie in whether the pattern represents the “real” China, but who has the right to decide the real China.

    In exhibited works, by the application of video, artist CHENG Ting-Ting ironizes the story listed above. In performance records, as Eastern, CHENG in reverse copies the pattern. Repeatedly, on cheap paper plates, she tries to learn and practice the drawing of Blue Willow pattern from the porcelain plate she bought from a market in London, meanwhile recording the approximately 70 hours working process by video, displaying her gradual “progress.” By the showcase of more and more alike paper plates, CHENG sarcastically points out Eastern identity constructed by Eurocentric: “I am Asian, as you told me I am Asian. You told me this is my culture; well then, this is my culture.”

    Title of this solo exhibition “but hon, why don’t you write your own history?” caustically portrays the innocent Western standpoints, and its long negligence of imbalanced right of discourse in the history. Through the two series, both presenting the East under Western spectacles, CHENG highlights importance of right of discourse.