‘’We have to give our opinion; we have to say something, or we are a part of it.’’
(Ai Weiwei)
Ai Weiwei is more than an artist. His work, constantly challenging China’s ruling communist government, makes use of creativity to encapsulate social and political meaning. Many people will probably be familiar with these photographs, in which the artist/activist has chosen to express his rejection for authority, culture and politics as means of power that restrains freedom of speech, knowledge and privacy.
His array of skills range from being an architect, to a conceptual artist, a blogger, a documentarist and an activist. He has in fact made a series of documentaries, which reveal some of the hidden truths which are kept from the Chinese population by its government. One of his documentaries, ‘The Crab House’, shows how the Shanghai government first encouraged Ai Weiwei to build a studio in the town of Malu in order to promote culture and then ordered its demolishment as soon as the construction work had ended. This infuriated the artist, who in response to the Shanghai government’s contradiction, hosted from his apartment (as he was under house arrest) the River Crab Feast, which saw the participation of hundreds of people. The word crab, meaning ‘harmony’ in Chinese, is a symbol of censorship and it may be encountered several times throughout Ai’s artwork. His most famous documentary, however, investigated the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. It received much attention because of the discoveries made: the high number of casualties, result of the earthquake, were due to the buildings’ construction, producing outrage among Chinese people. This documentary was then translated into art (currently displayed at the Royal Academy), through a panel with the names of the children who died in schools during the tragic event — these were more than 5.000. His fame extended to the Western world when he was arrested for tax evasion for 80 days. The allegations have been questioned numerous times, as they do not seem to be proven in any way. This extreme act performed by the Chinese government increased dissent among Chinese people and his fame, which is reflected in the 298k followers on his Twitter account. Following his arrest in 2011, he was banned from traveling, regaining his passport just a few months ago. Ai took this opportunity to display one of the most waited-upon exhibitions at the Royal Academy of Arts in London and to create a new jewelry line, ‘Rebar in gold’, available in London at Elisabetta Cipriani’s gallery.
Lego
His most recent work captured worldwide media attention as the work proposed by the artist encapsulates subtle political meanings, putting in ‘uncomfortable’ situations people who support him. For the construction of pieces which are now displayed at the National Gallery of Victoria, in Melbourne, for the Andy Warhol-Ai Weiwei exhibition, the artist required a large number of Lego pieces. Lego declared it would not supply the pieces, as it cannot agree on the use of its products for political purposes. Ai Weiwei reacted to the statement by attacking the company, saying that by not sending the requested material to the artist, it was supporting censorship. Following these episodes, people around the world started delivering Lego pieces to Ai Weiwei’s home, leading to museums around the world setting up cars as collection points for the material. The work constructed thanks to these donations represents major figures that were silenced because of their spread of ‘too much’ information, according to some governments, such as Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, who is still living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. The amount of appreciation for his work demonstrates how freedom of speech is still an issue, but individuals are ready to fight back to try prevent this from happening.