A Chinese hairlressing school has used a clipart illustration of an Indian woman to raise the ire of some Australian students.
The drawing, called “Hangul”, was made by Chinese art teacher Zhang Xiaoyu, who is known for his colourful and whimsical style of painting.
It has been on display at a Chinese art museum in Australia, and has been described as provocative and offensive.
Mr Zhang has denied he was using it as a personal attack against a woman, saying the illustration was intended to be “silly”.
“This is not about personal attacks,” Mr Zhang said.
“It’s just a little sketchy piece of paper and paper is used for many different purposes.”
Mr Zhang, who has a PhD in Chinese and has worked as an art teacher in China, said he was not trying to offend anyone.
“I just want to make people smile,” he said.
The painting has been criticised on social media, with some people questioning whether the art was a joke.
Topics:arts-and-entertainment,arts-education,community-and,hollywood-2000,australiaFirst posted March 02, 2019 12:25:48Contact Emily O’BrienMore stories from Australia