Beijing shuts down art exhibition on violence against women.

Beijing authorities have shut down an art exhibition celebrating attempts to combat violence against women, organisers said on Thursday.

The exposition, timed to coincide with the UN 's international day for  the elimination of violence against women, was to open at Beijing’s Jinge Art Gallery on Wednesday. But when artists arrived hours before its planned opening, they found doors bolted shut.

The show’s closure was the latest of such episodes in the capital since president Xi Jinping came to power three years ago.

“The reason our exhibition was called off is pressure from higher authorities,” said Cui Guangxia, the Beijing-based artist curating the event.

Cui, who was among dozens of people arrested in mainland China last year after voicing support for pro -democracy protests in Hong Kong, said the exhibition was to show the work of 64 Chinese artists – 32 women and 32 men.

He said he believed authorities thought the event was too large and didn’t like the focus on domestic violence and gender equality.

Photographs taken inside the gallery show one installation featuring a bra sewed onto dozens of crumpled Chinese banknotes featuring the face of Chairman Mao.