Ai Weiwei". Current Biography Yearbook 2011. Ipswich, MA: H.W. Wilson. 2011. pp. 12–15. ISBN 9780824211219. Tinari, Philip (1 June 2007). "A kind of True Living: The art of Ai Weiwei". Archived from the original on 17 March 2012 . Retrieved 19 January 2011. Ai befriended beat poet Allen Ginsberg while living in New York, following a chance meeting at a poetry reading where Ginsberg read out several poems about China. Ginsberg had traveled to China and met with Ai's father, the noted poet Ai Qing, and consequently Ginsberg and Ai became friends. [12] Art key to freedom of expression". Archived from the original on 26 September 2013 . Retrieved 4 October 2014. It’s this use – courageous? foolhardy? – of digital technology and social media to tweak and circumvent state repression that, in part, makes Ai ubiquitous outside China – if not the most important or influential artist of the age, then at least its most emblematic." – James Adams, The Globe & Mail

China monitors and censors its net activity more aggressively than just about any country on the planet. These river crabs are indeed everywhere and climbing all over each other in this permanently confined space. And their pincers are sharp and at perpetual work suppressing free speech. That we get to know his work better, even in his absence, confirms that Ai has become an international symbol of dissent, and moreover, as skilled a propagandist as the government against which he’s fighting." – Chris Hampton, The Grid On 21 May 2015, Ai, along with the folk singer Joan Baez, received Amnesty International's Ambassador of Conscience Award, in Berlin, [218] for showing exceptional leadership in the fight for human rights, through his life and work. [219] The artist, who was at the time under surveillance and forbidden from leaving China, could not take part in the ceremony. His son Ai Lao accepted the prize on behalf of his father, called on the stage by Tate Modern director, Chris Dercon, who also spoke on behalf of the Chinese activist. [220] Chris Dercon, who received the award on behalf of Ai Weiwei, said that Ai Weiwei wanted to pay tribute to those people in worse conditions than him, including civil rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang who faces eight years in prison, imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize-winning poet Liu Xiaobo, journalist Gao Yu, women's rights activist Su Changlan, activist Liu Ping and academic Ilham Tohti. [221] Han dynasty vases with the Coca-Cola logo brushed onto them is one of the artists' longest running series, begun in 1994 and continuing to the present day. [153] Grapes [ edit ] Ai Weiwei and his assistant Gao Yuan, went from Beijing to interview Feng Zhenghu three times at Narita Airport, on 16 November, 20 November 2009 and 31 January 2010 and documented his stay in the airport passageway and the entire process of his return to China.At the end of the term, the gathering took place without Ai. All of his fans had a river crab, an allusion to "harmony", and a euphemism used to jeer official censorship. Ai was eventually released from house arrest the next day.

His work, his life and the oppressive government reaction to both embody everything art means to us: a fearless consideration and critique of contemporary culture, a compassionate consideration of life as it is lived and the necessity of being able to stand up and speak our minds on those subjects." – Dave Berry, The National Post It means you are commenting on the self destructive impulses in your society. You're commenting on the fragility of culture in your society. You're commenting on the ways in which power destroys things, particularly when power is exercised in an autocratic or authoritarian manner. Perhaps you're even commenting a little on the way you must position yourself in that conversation, destroyer and creator both. You can [get] the idea of how he had been having these creative thoughts in mind since his childhood. From March 16 until September 4, 2022, a retrospective on Ai Weiwei's work is on display at the Albertina in Vienna, Austria under the title "Ai Weiwei. In Search of Humanity". [202] Awards and honors [ edit ]

Now, Ai Weiwei is a political artist, but he's not, I don't think, an innately dissident one. Rather, his dissent isn't grounded in any wholescale rejection of his culture's precepts or challenges to that self-conception. What makes him so unique and such trouble to officials is that his work, his thinking, even his life clearly and happily embrace a fundamental principle of Chinese society: the colossal. Along with this documentary, Fairytale was documented through written materials and photographs of participants and artifacts from the event. [118] Fairytale was an act of social subversion, improving relationships between China and the West through interactions among participants and the citizens of Kassel. Ai Weiwei felt that he was able to make a positive influence on both participants of Fairytale and Kassel citizens. [118] Little Girl's Cheeks [ edit ]

Among a hundred volunteers, 38 of them participated in fieldwork, with 25 of them being controlled by the Sichuan police for a total of 45 times.Ai is married to artist Lu Qing. [27] He has a son, Ai Lao, born 2009 with Wang Fen. [28] Ai is fond of cats. [29] Political activity and controversies [ edit ] Internet activities [ edit ] By gathering and confirming comprehensive details about the students, such as their age, region, school, and grade, the group managed to affirm that there were 5,192 students who perished in the disaster.

The second half of Ai’s book documents his art world ascendancy alongside his bruising battles with the Chinese authorities. In November 2010, he was placed under house arrest after the authorities suddenly authorised the demolition of his newly built studio in Shanghai. Then, in April 2011, he was arrested at Beijing airport as he prepared to board a flight to Hong Kong. Night and day, he shared his living space with two guards, whom he was forbidden to look at But for a Chinese artist, particularly a Chinese artist raised during the culture revolution when smashing old culture was cynical, disastrous political dictate, smashing a valuable vase must mean something more. On 21 June 2012, Ai's bail was lifted. Although he was allowed to leave Beijing, the police informed him that he was still prohibited from traveling to other countries because he is "suspected of other crimes", including pornography, bigamy and illicit exchange of foreign currency. [80] [81] Until 2015, he remained under heavy surveillance and restrictions of movement, but continued to criticize through his work. [82] In July 2015, he was given a passport and permitted to travel abroad. [83] 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". [171] Although ignored by the Chinese media, he had voiced his anti-Olympics views. [172] 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. [173] [174] 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." [175] In February 2008, Spielberg withdrew from his role as advisor to the 2008 Summer Olympics. [176] [177] When asked why he participated in the designing of the Bird's Nest in the first place, Ai replied "I did it because I love design." [178] Serpentine Pavilion [ edit ] Weiwei is often referred to as China's most famous artist. He has created works that focus on human rights abuses using video, photography, wallpaper, and porcelain. [115] Documentaries [ edit ]Lu was subsequently questioned by police, and released after several hours though the exact charges remain unclear. [77] [78] Toronto-based interventionist artist Sean Martindale created Love The Future / Free Ai Weiwei during Ai's detention by Chinese authorities in spring 2011. This show of solidarity is intended to raise awareness and further dialogue about the internationally acclaimed artist’s situation, as well as those of others disappeared due to their political and artistic expression. The eight-foot-tall statue is made entirely out of salvaged cardboard Martindale collected in and around Toronto’s central Chinatown neighbourhood.