Viral charity project evoked accountability questions

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"Have you bought any autistic children's paintings?" This question was repeatedly asked yesterday afternoon in China as over 5.8 million WeChat users participated in a charity fundraiser named “Autistics’ Paint Gallery.” Users could spend 1 yuan to buy a digital copy of a painting from a child with autism and make it their smartphone wallpaper, with the money being donated to an autistic disorders group.

The colorful and innovative images inspired many to share the charity's information with friends and, by 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, the “Autistic Children’s Gallery” project had raised 15 million yuan.

After hours of celebrating the artistic talents of children with autism, many raised questions: Are these paintings real? How would they use this amount of money?

One of the available paintings /WeChat

“People never give enough attention to growing up autistics. So we also present autistic adults’ art work to the public as well,” said an anonymous organizer from Shanghai WABC. “Even if they are over 30, they still have a kid living in their hearts.”

There are 36 paintings for sale on the website. Painters are people with autism, from all around China, aged from 11 to 50, and who are either intellectually disabled, mentally disabled or have an autistic disorder.

The original fund raising goal was reached in only a few hours. /WeChat

The charity project first launched in August 2016, but this time it was promoted through an animation website. It soon became a huge success with many seeing this as the future of charity in the digital era.

“It is cheap. And those paints are really aesthetic. I could help others at the [same] time,” Zhou Jing, a WeChat user who bought the painting yesterday listed three reasons why she joined in.

However, discussion of “Autistics’ Paint Gallery” changed their tone later, with users questioning the accountability and reliability of the project.

Tencent, the company which owns the WeChat platform, and also a joint organizer of the project, issued a Q&A later on Tuesday, claiming the funding will be used to improve the living environment for people with autism and help them get involved in the society. Tencent also said they will make no profit from this project.

The page showing a user has successfully bought a painting. /WeChat

Even though the project successfully draws people’s attention to the autistic community, some families of those with autism believe the public have misunderstood the disease.

Writer Cai Chunzhu, who has an 8-year-old autistic son, said people always think autistic children are talented and they live in a magic word but it is very unfair to most autistic children as the majority cannot even manage themselves.

Special education teacher Li Laoxi warns people should not beautify autism. In China, autistic children’s parents are facing too many difficulties, as there are no special autistic hospitals in China and their children are discriminated against in school.

Each painting comes with its own description. /WeChat