Ai Weiwei, from archinect.com
As the sun rises in China, it sets on a powerful gathering of supporters of artist Ai Weiwei. Hundreds gathered at the artist’s soon to be demolished Shanghai studio, to protest the imminent demolition by the Shanghai authorities, who allegedly encouraged the building of the studio just 2 years ago. The artist was conspicuously absent, placed under house arrest on Friday until Sunday at midnight, 650 miles away in Beijing.
The house arrest came in response to the artist’s twitter invitation to supporters to commemorate the studio. He was approached by authorities to cancel the party on Thursday, he explained to The Guardian, “I told them: ‘I cannot cancel my party, because it is our only chance before the building is destroyed.’ Then they suggested I said I was under house arrest. I said: ‘This is ridiculous, because I’m not under house arrest and I’m not going to lie to the public.'”
He was subsequently placed under house arrest until midnight Sunday, when the party was over. The artist has praised supporters for going ahead with the party, against the wishes of authorities and reported threats from local police, “hopefully [the police] will learn from this that they cannot just use this old way to deal with new conditions” he said.
The artist, who designed the 2008 Beijing Olympic stadium, has endured a fraught relationship with Chinese authorities. In conversation with the Guardian, Ai attributes the latest attack to fears over “the size of the party as well as its nature.” The current controversy comes just months after the artist was allegedly punched in the head whilst attempting to lodge a complaint about a previous attack, having taken place a year ago.
The controversy coincides with Ai’s appeal to British Prime Minister David Cameron to prioritise human rights concerns when he leads the largest ever British delegation to China tomorrow. Writing in the Guardian on the eve of the British visit and the night of his release from house arrest, Ai urged the British PM not only focus on trade, but also to ask the Chinese government “not to make people “disappear” or to jail them merely because they have different opinions”.
Ai WeiWei, along with the traditionally trained people of Jingdezhen, China, is behind the installation of 100 million painstakingly hand crafted porcelain sunflower seeds currently spread across the floor of the Tate Modern’s turbine hall.
The Unilever Series: Ai Weiwei Tate Modern 12 October 2010 – 2 May 2011
