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Ai's studio was demolished, by order of the Chinese government, on 11 January 2011.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/13/world/asia/13china.html Chinese Authorities Raze an Artist’s Studio], nytimes.com,</ref><ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12174873 China artist Ai Weiwei's Shanghai studio demolished], [[BBC Online]], 12 January 2011</ref>
Ai's studio was demolished, by order of the Chinese government, on 11 January 2011.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/13/world/asia/13china.html Chinese Authorities Raze an Artist’s Studio], nytimes.com,</ref><ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12174873 China artist Ai Weiwei's Shanghai studio demolished], [[BBC Online]], 12 January 2011</ref>

=== Arrest at Beijing Airport on 2011-0403 ===
On April 3rd it was known that Ai Weiwei was hindered by authorities to leave Beijing for Hong Kong. According to reports he was arrested at 09:30 am local time after checking in at Beijing airport. Three days earlier his house in Beijing, Caochangdi was already investigated by 20 policemen, whoch led Ai Weiwei to the followin commentary: "In Caochangdi Nr.258 geht es bald wie in Libyen zu."


== References ==
== References ==

Revision as of 12:35, 3 April 2011

Template:Chinese name

Ai Weiwei
艾未未
Ai Weiwei
NationalityChinese
Notable workSunflower Seeds
Ai Weiwei
Traditional Chinese艾未未
Simplified Chinese艾未未
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinÀi Wèiwèi

Ai Weiwei (born 1957) is a Chinese artist, activist, and philosopher, who is also active in architecture, curating, photography, film, and social and cultural criticism.[1][2] Ai collaborated with Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron as the artistic consultant on the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Olympics.[3] Besides showing his art he has been investigating in the corruption and cover-ups under the power of the government. He was particularly focused at exposing an alleged corruption scandal in the construction of Sichuan schools that collapsed during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. He intensively uses the internet to communicate with people all over China, especially the young generation.[4]

Life and work

His father was Chinese poet Ai Qing, who was denounced during the Cultural Revolution and in 1958 sent to a labor camp in Xinjiang with his wife, Gao Ying.[5] Ai Weiwei was one year old. In 1975 the family returned to Beijing.[6] Ai Weiwei is married to artist Lu Qing.[5]

In 1978, Ai enrolled in the Beijing Film Academy and attended school with Chinese directors Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou.[7] In 1978, he was one of the founders of the early avant garde art group the "Stars", together with Ma Desheng, Wang Keping, Huang Rui, Li Shuang, Zhong Acheng and Qu Leilei. In China the group subsequently disbanded in 1983.[8] Yet Ai Weiwei participated in regular Stars group shows, The Stars: Ten Years, 1989 (Hanart Gallery, Hong-Hong and Taipei), and a retrospective exhibition in Beijing in 2007: Origin Point (Today Art Museum, Beijing).

From 1981 to 1993, he lived in the United States, mostly in New York, creating conceptual art by altering readymade objects.[8] While in New York, he studied at Parsons School of Design.[9]

In 1993, Ai returned to China because his father became ill.[10] Back in Beijing, he helped establish the experimental artists' Beijing East Village and published a series of three books about this new generation of artists: Black Cover Book (1994), White Cover Book (1995), and Gray Cover Book (1997).[11]

File:Ai weiwei documenta XII.jpg
Ai Weiwei's contribution to the Documenta 12 in Kassel 2007

Ai Weiwei is co-founder and Artistic Director of China Art Archives & Warehouse (CAAW), founded in 1997, Beijing. It is a contemporary art archive and experimental gallery that concentrates on experimental art from the People's Republic of China, initiates and facilitates exhibitions and other forms of introductions inside and outside China.[12] The building is designed by Ai Weiwei.

"Template" (2007) after collapse

In 1999, Ai moved to Caochangdi in the northeast of Beijing and build the studio house, his first architectural project. Since he was getting more involved with architecture he founded the architecture studio FAKE Design in 2003.[13]

In 2000, he co-curated the art exhibition "Fuck Off" with curator Feng Boyi in Shanghai, China.[14]

Ai Weiwei and HHF Architects designed a private residence in Upstate New York in 2006. According to the New York Times, the house, completed in 2008, is "extraordinarily refined" and designed to incorporate a large, contemporary Chinese art collection.[15][16] In 2010, Wallpaper (magazine) nominated the home for its Wallpaper Design Awards category: Best New Private House.[17]

In 2008 he curated the architecture project Ordos 100 in Ordos City, Inner Mongolia. He invited 100 architects from all over the world (29 countries) to participate in this project.[18]

Ai curated the exhibition The State of Things, together with Belgian artist Luc Tuymans. It was shown at Bozar Palais des Baux-Arts in Brussels (18/10/2009 - 10/01/2010) and at the National Art Museum in Beijing (01/05/2010 - 30/05/2010).[19]

On March 15th 2010 he took part in Digital Activism in China: A discussion between Ai Weiwei, Jack Dorsey (founder of Twitter) and Richard MacManus, hosted by The Paley Media Center in New York.[20]

Exhibitions

Ai's artwork has been exhibited in China, Japan, Korea, Australia, United Kingdom, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland, Israel, Brazil and the United States.

Ai Weiwei’s work was included in the 48th Venice Biennale in Italy (1999), 1st Guangzhou Triennale in China (2002), 1st Monpellier Biennial of Chinese Contemporary Art in France (2005), The 2nd Guangzhou Triennial (2005), Busan Biennial in Korea (2006), The 5th Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art in Australia (2006), Documenta 12 in Germany (2007), Liverpool Biennial International 08 in the United Kingdom (2008), 2010 Venice Architecture Biennale and the 29th Sao Paulo Biennial in Brazil (2010).

Fairytale is the title of Ai Weiwei's contribution for Documenta 12 in 2007. For this project Ai Weiwei brought 1001 people from all over China to a small town in Germany called Kassel. They were chosen through an open invitation he posted on his blog.[21] Ai even designed clothes, luggage and a temporary home in an old textile factory. He let them wander around the city during the exhibition time of three months. The participants were divided into five groups that each stayed in Kassel for eight days. According to Philip Tinari the primary design object here is not the clothing or suitcases but the participants' experiences, even their spirits.[22] During the exhibition his monumental outdoor sculpture titled Template, made of wooden doors and windows from destroyed Ming and Qing Dynasty houses (1368–1911), collapsed after a storm.[23]

From October 2009 to January 2010 Ai Weiwei exhibited So Sorry at Haus der Kunst in Munich, Germany. This solo exhibition showed Ai Weiwei’s largest retrospective to date.[24] The title refers to the thousands of apologies expressed recently by governments, industries, and financial corporations worldwide in an effort to make up for tragedies and wrongdoings – though often withhout shouldering the consequences or the desire to acknowledge let alone repair. Saying sorry – or not saying it – is in the headlines everywhere and thus also in China.[25] For this show Ai Weiwei created the installation Remembering on Haus der Kunst's façade. It was made out of 9000 children's backpacks. They spell out the sentence 'She lived happily for seven years in this world' in Chinese characters. This is a quote from a mother who's child died in the Sichuan earthquake in 2008. Ai Weiwei said: "The idea to use backpacks came from my visit to Sichuan after the earthquake in May 2008. During the earthquake many schools collapsed. Thousands of young students lost their lives, and you could see bags and study material everywhere. Then you realize individual life, media, and the lives of the students are serving very different purposes. The lives of the students disappeared within the state propaganda, and very soon everybody will forget everything."[26]

On 25 July 2009 Ai Weiwei opened his solo show According to What? at Tokyo's Mori Art Museum, Japan. This exhibition presented 26 works, most made over the past decade.[27]

In December 2009, Ai Weiwei had a small exhibition at the Comme des garcons store in Hong Kong.[28]

From March to September 2010, Ai exhibited Barely Something, an exhibition curated by Roger M. Buergel, the director of Documenta 12, at the Museum DKM in Duisburg, Germany.[29]

'Sunflower Seeds'

In October 2010, Sunflower Seeds was installed at the Tate Modern Turbine Hall, the work consists of one hundred million porcelain "seeds," each individually hand-painted in the town of Jingdezhen by 1,600 Chinese artisans, and scattered over a large area of the exhibition hall.[30] The artist was keen for visitors to walk across and roll in the work to experience and contemplate the essence of his comment on mass consumption, Chinese industry, famine and collective work. However, on 16 October, Tate Modern stopped people from walking on the exhibit due to health liability concerns over the porcelain dust.[31]

Awards

In March 2010 Ai Weiwei received an Honorary Doctorate Degree from the Faculty of Politics and Social Science, University of Gent, Belgium.[32]

In September 2010 he received Das Glas der Vernunft (The Prism of Reason), Kassel Citizen Award, Kassel, Germany.[33]

Ai Weiwei was ranked 13 in ArtReview's guide to the 100 most powerful figures in contemporary art: Power 100, 2010.[34]

Beijing National Stadium

The Beijing National Stadium at night during the 2008 Summer Olympics

Ai was commissioned as the artistic consultant for design, collaborating with the Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron, for the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Summer Olympics, also known as the "Bird's Nest."[35] Although ignored by the Chinese media, he has voiced his anti-Olympics views.[2] He later distanced himself from the project, saying, "I've already forgotten about it. I turn down all the demands to have photographs with it," saying it is part of a "pretend smile" of bad taste.[36][37] In August 2007 he also accused those choreographing the Olympic opening ceremony, including Steven Spielberg and Zhang Yimou, of failing to live up to their responsibility as artists. Ai said "It's disgusting. I don't like anyone who shamelessly abuses their profession, who makes no moral judgment."[38] In February 2008, Spielberg withdrew from his role as advisor to the 2008 Summer Olympics.[39][40] When asked why he participated in the designing of the Bird's Nest, Ai replied "I did it because I love design."[citation needed]

Sichuan earthquake student casualties investigation

On 15 December 2008, Ai Weiwei supported an investigation into student casualties in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake started by an other Chinese artist. The investigation aimed to compile a list of students killed in the earthquake by 12 May 2009, the earthquake's first anniversary.[41] As of 14 April 2009, the list had accumulated 5,385 names.[42] Ai published the collected names as well as numerous articles documenting the investigation on his blog which has been shut down in May 2009.[43]

Ai Weiwei suffered headaches and claimed he had difficulty concentrating on his work since returning from Chengdu in August 2009, where he was beaten by the police for trying to testify for Tan Zuoren, a fellow investigator of the shoddy construction and student casualties in the earthquake.

On 14 September 2009, Ai was diagnosed to be suffering internal bleeding in a hospital in Munich, Germany, and the doctor arranged for emergency brain surgery.[44] The Cerebral hemorrhage is believed to be linked to the police attack.[45][46]

According to the Financial Times, in an attempt to force Ai to leave the country, two accounts used by him had been hacked in a sophisticated attack on Google in China dubbed Operation Aurora, their contents read and copied; his bank accounts were investigated by state security agents who claimed he was under investigation for "unspecified suspected crimes".[47]

Shanghai studio controversy

In November 2010, Ai was placed under house arrest by the Chinese police. He said this was to prevent the planned party to mark the demolition of his newly built Shanghai studio from taking place.[48]

The building was designed and built by Ai upon encouragement and persuasion from a "high official [from Shanghai]" as part of a new cultural area designated by Shanghai Municipal authorities; Ai would have used it as a studio and to teach architecture courses. But now Ai has been accused of erecting the structure without the necessary planning permission and a demolition notice has been ordered, even though, Ai said, officials had been extremely enthusiastic, and the entire application and planning process was "under government supervision". According to Ai, a number of artists were invited to build new studios in this area of Shanghai because officials wanted to create a cultural area.[49]

On 3 November 2010 Ai said the government had informed him two months earlier that the newly-completed studio would be knocked down because it was illegal. Ai complained that this was unfair, as he was "the only one singled out to have my studio destroyed." The Guardian said that Ai had made a number of documentaries on subjects which touched the raw nerves of Shanghai municipal authorities, including Shanghai resident Feng Zhenghu, who lived in forced exile for three months in Narita Airport, Tokyo.[49]

In the end, the party took place without Weiwei's presence; his supporters feasted on river crab, an allusion to "harmony", and a euphemism used to jeer official censorship. Ai was released from house arrest the next day.[50]

Like other activists and intellectuals, Ai was prevented from leaving China in late 2010. Ai suggested that the authorities wanted to prevent him from attending the ceremony in December 2010 to award the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to fellow dissident Liu Xiaobo.[51] Ai said that he had not been invited to the ceremony, and was attempting to travel to Korea for a meeting when he was told that he could not leave for reasons of national security.[52]

Ai's studio was demolished, by order of the Chinese government, on 11 January 2011.[53][54]

Arrest at Beijing Airport on 2011-0403

On April 3rd it was known that Ai Weiwei was hindered by authorities to leave Beijing for Hong Kong. According to reports he was arrested at 09:30 am local time after checking in at Beijing airport. Three days earlier his house in Beijing, Caochangdi was already investigated by 20 policemen, whoch led Ai Weiwei to the followin commentary: "In Caochangdi Nr.258 geht es bald wie in Libyen zu."

References

  1. ^ "Ai Weiwei". Wolseley Media. 2008. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  2. ^ a b Cooper, Rafi (6 July 2008). "Cultural revolutionary". The Observer. London. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  3. ^ "China's New Faces: Ai Weiwei". BBC News. 3 March 2005. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  4. ^ Osnos, Evan, It's Not Beautiful, The New Yorker, 24 May 2010 pp.54–63.
  5. ^ a b Meacham, Steve (24 April 2008). "Child of the revolution in revolt". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  6. ^ Merewether, Charles, Ruins in Reverse, in Ai Weiwei: Under Construction, University of New South Wales press, Sydney, 2008, pp.29.
  7. ^ Blackwell, Adrian (5 December 2006). "Ai Weiwei: Fragments, Voids, Sections and Rings". Archinect. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  8. ^ a b "Ai Weiwei". Groninger Museum. 28 February 2008. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  9. ^ Aloi, Daniel (15 November 2006). "Ai Weiwei literally smashes China's traditions in art and architecture". Cornell University. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  10. ^ Toy, Mary-Anne (19 January 2008). "The artist as an angry man". The Age. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  11. ^ Napack, Jonathan (2 August 2004). Ai Weiwei: Works Beijing 1993–2003. Timezone 8. p. 148. ISBN 978-988-97262-8-7.
  12. ^ "China Art Archives & Warehouse". Retrieved 19 January 2011.
  13. ^ Tinari, Philip (1 June 2007). "A kind of True Living: The art of Ai Weiwei". Retrieved 19 January 2011.
  14. ^ Vulliamy, Ed (29 June 2008). "The nest generation". The Observer. London. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  15. ^ Nicholson, Louise (1 November 2006). "Art to live with". Apollo. Retrieved 6 July 2008. [dead link]
  16. ^ The New York Times: “Global Summit” [dead link]
  17. ^ Wallpaper Magazine, November 2010
  18. ^ McGetrick, Brandon (23 April 2008). "Ordos 100: Bringing a taste of everywhere to the middle of nowhere". Retrieved 14 March 2011.
  19. ^ "Ai Weiwei". The State of Things. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
  20. ^ "Digital Activism in China". Retrieved 14 March 2011.
  21. ^ Merewether, Charles, Ruins in Reverse, in Ai Weiwei: Under Construction, University of New South Wales press, Sydney, 2008, pp.125.
  22. ^ Philip Tinari, A kind of True Living: The art of Ai WeiweiA Kind of True Living: The Art of Ai Weiwei | philip tinari
  23. ^ Art Forum
  24. ^ Tinari, Philip (1 February 2010). "Ai Weiwei: So Sorry". Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  25. ^ Dercon, Chris ; Lorz, Julienne, So Sorry, in Ai Weiwei So Sorry, Prestel Verlag, Munich, Berlin, London, New York, 2009, pp.6.
  26. ^ Ai Weiwei, Remembering, 2009, in Ai Weiwei So Sorry, Prestel Verlag, Munich, Berlin, London, New York, 2009, pp.14.
  27. ^ Worrall, Julian (31 July 2009). "Escape from Propaganda". Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  28. ^ Ai Weiwei and Comme des garcons
  29. ^ www.galerieursmeile.com
  30. ^ Higgins, Charlotte (11 October 2010). "People power comes to the Turbine Hall: Ai Weiwei's Sunflower Seeds", The Guardian, .
  31. ^ "Tate seed art shut due to health concerns", 15 October 2010. BBC News
  32. ^ "HART Magazine". 2008. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
  33. ^ "Zeit Online". Retrieved 19 January 2011.
  34. ^ "ArtReview Power 100". Retrieved 19 January 2011.
  35. ^ "Artist behind Beijing's 'bird's nest' stadium boycotts Olympics". CBC News. 11 August 2007. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  36. ^ "Stadium designer blasts China Olympics". Al Jazeera. 12 August 2007. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  37. ^ "Chinese architect slams Olympic 'pretend smile'". CNN. 13 August 2007. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  38. ^ Watts, Jonathan (11 August 2007). "Olympic artist lashes out over PRC propaganda". Taipei Times. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  39. ^ Rachel Abramowitz (2008). "Spielberg drops out as Beijing Olympics advisor". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 13 February 2007. [dead link]
  40. ^ "Spielberg in Darfur snub to China". BBC. 13 February 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2008.
  41. ^ Ai Weiwei (13 March 2009). ""5.12汶川地震死亡学生"调查 09.03.12[[Category:Articles containing Chinese-language text]]" (in Chinese). Retrieved 15 April 2009. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  42. ^ Ai Weiwei (14 April 2009). "5.12遇难学生名单 补充 (八十四) 09.04.11[[Category:Articles containing Chinese-language text]]" (in Chinese). Retrieved 15 April 2009. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  43. ^ CBC News (12 July 2009). "China cracks down on outspoken artist[[Category:Articles containing explicitly cited English-language text]]". Retrieved 12 July 2009. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  44. ^ Chinese artist gets emergency brain surgery in Munich – The Local
  45. ^ Operation in Munich: Chinese Artist Accuses Government for Injury – SPIEGEL ONLINE – News – International
  46. ^ Wines, Michael (28 November 2009). "China's Impolitic Artist, Still Waiting to Be Silenced". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
  47. ^ Anderlini, Jamil (15 January 2010). "The Chinese dissident's 'unknown visitors'". Financial Times.
  48. ^ Ai Weiwei under house arrest, Guardian, 5 November 2010.
  49. ^ a b Branigan, Tania & Gabbatt, Adam (3 November 2010). "Ai Weiwei's Shanghai art studio to be demolished" The Guardian
  50. ^ An update on Chinese dissent artist Ai Weiwei's latest protests
  51. ^ China: 2 Intellectuals Barred From Leaving the Country, New York Times, 3 December 2010
  52. ^ China Nobel row: Artist Ai Weiwei stopped from leaving , BBC News, 3 December 2010
  53. ^ Chinese Authorities Raze an Artist’s Studio, nytimes.com,
  54. ^ China artist Ai Weiwei's Shanghai studio demolished, BBC Online, 12 January 2011
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