A NUDE photo exhibition opened Wednesday (August 10th) at Guangzhou Library, drawing queries about the line between art and pornography.

Some 300 big photos, featuring young women nude or barely clothed, will be shown until the end of the month. The exhibitor said the photos adopted a three-dimensional photographic technique with the resolution for each photo reaching 20 million pixels. "It has never before been used on nude photos," said Dong Yijin.

The models presented in the photos were all volunteers chosen from various cities in China, he said. He also claimed the photos were pure art and the high-resolution technique helped to present the flawless skins and unique beauty of the models.

Some visitors questioned whether cultural authorities approved the exhibition. A cultural bureau official replied there was no law imposing a compulsory examination on human body photo exhibitions.

An art industry management rule published July 1, 2004 by the State lowered the threshold for entering the art market. Companies no longer need the approval from cultural authorities to exhibit or auction off art works as long as they are legally registered with industrial and commercial departments.

Cultural and police authorities would catch and punish exhibitors involved in spreading pornography with periodical inspections or with the help of whistleblowers, the official said.

Another official regretted there was no clear definition of pornography to distinguish it from the freedom of art. The only provision concerning this issue is a temporary regulation drawn 17 years ago on pornographic publications.

Editor: Wing