Last month, Artsy spoke with two curators of the Guggenheim’s latest exhibition, “Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World” about a particular moment in the history of contemporary artists from China. Our conversation took place before the show had opened—and, as it turned out, a few days before a major controversy erupted around ’s 2003 video work Dogs That Cannot Touch Each Other. This work, along with two others, was eventually removed amid allegations of animal cruelty.  

Part One of this two-part episode features the original recording, in which we discuss the rising tide of globalization between 1989 and 2008 and its impact on both China and its art. Part Two, which can be found here, was recorded on Tuesday and explores the controversy and the works that incited it.