Overview
- The installation at London’s National Gallery, reported Monday by national outlets, casts Asian transgender performers as the Christian martyr St Sebastian.
- The multi‑room film shows scenes such as listening to a seashell, dancing, and martial arts, and many clips end with the models being struck by arrows.
- Gallery signage says the work reimagines the martyr’s story inside the museum and features Latin‑speaking Roman soldiers performed by Asian actors of different genders alongside the artist.
- Critics from gender‑critical groups and some Christian voices call the portrayal offensive and historically wrong in a taxpayer‑funded museum, with one campaigner urging a boycott.
- Curator Daniel F. Herrmann has publicly supported the residency as a study of how images shape identity, and the show is free to view in the refurbished Sainsbury Wing through Easter Monday.