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The sculptor called for a worldwide day of action where museums and galleries close for one day in sympathy for the plight of his fellow artist. "Why not?" he asked.
Ai, whose sunflower seeds work in Tate Modern's Turbine Hall closed at the weekend, has been missing for about a month, in the hands of the Chinese authorities. He had not been heard from, nor charged with any offence.
— The Guardian
Barack Obama's administration has criticised China over its crackdown on dissidents in a week that has seen the passing of a legal deadline to charge or free the detained artist Ai Weiwei. — The Independent
As you're probably aware, Ai Weiwei, Chinese artist and human rights freedom fighter, is still being detained by Chinese police. In an effort to increase public awareness we're working with BIG to offer these t-shirts designed by e-types, at cost. Now available: Click here to buy ... View full entry
Life has become significantly more political in the new millennium, especially in the aftermath of worldwide financial crisis. Art is both driving and documenting this upheaval. Increasingly, new visual concepts and commentaries are being used to represent and communicate emotionally charged topics, thereby bringing them onto local political and social agendas in a way far more powerful than words alone. — Gestalten
In the light of politically active artists facing more and more opposition and oppression (Ai Weiwei remains under Chinese arrest), the just released book Art & Agenda is an important documentation of current urban interventions, installations, performances, sculptures, and paintings and also... View full entry
Gerkan: This idea of only wanting to work for private individuals is absurd. In a country like China, where does private end and where does government-owned begin? Private citizens turn out to be aligned with the government, or a private developer obtains government financing for his building. For architects like us, this is almost impossible to figure out. Many of those who criticize us are building the five-hundredth high-rise building in China and claim to have integrity. This is a fallacy. — Spiegel
Within two days of the opening of the first exhibition at the newly renovated National Museum of China, Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was arrested at the Beijing airport. Der Spiegel recently spoke with Meinhard von Gerkan of the renowned architecture firm gmp in Hamburg, who... View full entry
Artist's assistants and wife released but his whereabouts not disclosed by Beijing authorities — guardian.co.uk
See Archinect's feature interview with Ai Weiwei here. View full entry
Ai, who is also an architectural designer, had been building a studio in Shanghai suburb on a plot of farmland containing a derelict warehouse. After two years he received notice in July that the building was illegal and would be demolished. The house arrest is said to prevent him going to that... View full entry
Surgeons at a clinic in Munich on Monday performed surgery on 51-year-old Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, after diagnosing a cerebral hemorhage on the right side of his brain. Mr. Weiwei accuses government for injury. spiegel View full entry
