ai wei wei at harvard,
- Ai Weiwei, besides sharing three letters with the surname of yours truly (Weiss), is a leading Chinese conceptual artist, but I never heard of him until The New York Times reported that the Beijing based government had arrested him for his dissent, audacity, outspokenness, or, as they claim “economic crimes.”
Here is a link:
Updating this, a week later, here is a missive about the petition to release Ai Weiwei. I also spoke to Bruce Beasley on this topic in so far as the fact that Bruce created a sculpture for the Beijing Olympics (one of 12 international artists given that honor); I asked if he could use his influence to advocate for Ai, and he said he doubted he had much voice. “I have about two shot glasses in an Olympic size pool of influence, compared to you who has about one shot glass relatively speaking, ” Bruce said.
International art community demands the release of artist and activist Ai Weiwei.
On April 3rd, Ai Weiwei—internationally acclaimed Chinese artist and insistent government critic—was detained at the Beijing airport while en route to Hong Kong. Shortly after Mr. Ai was seized, more than a dozen police officers raided the artist’s studio in the Caochangdi neighborhood, cut off power to part of that area and led away nearly a dozen employees—a mix of Chinese citizens and foreigners who are part of Mr. Ai’s large staff. By Sunday evening, the foreigners and several of the Chinese had been released after being questioned, according to one of Mr. Ai’s employees, who was not in the studio when the public security agents arrived.
Rights advocates say the detentions are an ominous sign that the Communist Party’s six-week crackdown on rights lawyers, bloggers and dissidents is spreading to the upper reaches of Chinese society. Ai Weiwei, the son of one of the country’s most beloved poets, is an internationally renowned artist, a documentary filmmaker and an architect who helped design the Olympic stadium in Beijing known as the Bird’s Nest.
We, members of the international arts community, express our concern for Ai’s freedom and disappointment in China’s reluctance to live up to its promise to nurture creativity and independent thought.
Support the release of Ai Weiwei
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation is petitioning the Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China (Minister Mr. Cai Wu) for the release of Ai Weiwei.
• SIGN THE PETITION– and forward it to everyone you can.
• 1001 Chairs for Ai Weiwei (this is a link to a site that I chose not to register with, so I cannot see it, but go ahead if you want to; Editor)
On Sunday, April 17th at 1pm – in front of the Chinese Consulates, BRING A CHAIR and demonstrate your support for the his immediate release.
I am tempted to go to the May 2 ceremony regarding the Ai Weiwei astrological sculptures; I will certainly see it in June (which will be my first visit to New York in several years; it’s been ten years since my month-long sabbatical in Brooklyn (Carroll Gardens/Red Hook).
TED video:
edit to add, May 1: New York Times had a story about an agency founded by two young Americans, including a former Menlo School water polo player named Sean Leow, that matches Chinese emerging artists with major brand advertising campaigns there. The article mentions Ai Wei Wei, saying the effort is a “far cry from” the activist/artist. I would say (if I could find the format to comment on NYT stories) that the difference between Ai Weiwei and the NeoChaEdge agency is like the difference between Jean-Paul Sartre and Mata Hari; I am also influenced here by just having seen a version of “No Exit” at ACT San Francisco and watched the 1975 Paddy Chayefsky movie “Network.” Ai Weiwei wants to protect school children from being crushed in sub-standard school building collapses; NeoCha Edge wants to sell name brand Vodka and athletic gear, and to be an asset to a corrupt establishment.
Plastic Alto with Mark Weiss 
Loren Schoenberg, here to talk about Mingus today, mentioned this, article by Maureen Dowd in NYT about Dylan in China, the sellout; it references Ai Weiwei:
more nuance discussion here, rebutting above:
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/04/dylan-dowd-and-china-did-bob-really-sell-out/237055/
re Harvard and Ai Weiwei:
http://www.boston.com/ae/specials/culturedesk/2011/04/comedy_or_tragedy_ai_weiwei_do.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut1_hiG3ANA&feature=fvst
suggested by wordpress as links:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11515658
It looks as if I missed an op-ed feature in New York Times yesterday Friday or maybe today Saturday on the topic of Ai Weiwei:
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/04/11/ai-weiwei-and-the-artists-role-in-china
thanks also to my neighbor the writer and editor Jon Ford for pointing me towards (and lending me his hard copy of) this Time feature on Ai Weiwei:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2065150,00.html
from Change dot org which says it is being hacked by Chinese officialdom after garnering 100,000 supporters including yours truly for its “release ai weiwei” campaign:
Dear Mark B,
The petition demanding the release of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has nearly 100,000 signatures.
Here’s how we know it’s really gotten Beijing’s attention: For the past four days, the Change.org website has been repeatedly targeted by cyber attacks coming from China that aim to bring our site down, which would keep people from signing the petition.
Our engineers are working around the clock to fend off the attacks and, for now, the petition is still up.
We need to let the Chinese government know that illegal tactics from within its borders won’t stop the mounting pressure on them to release Weiwei. If you haven’t already, please click here to share the petition on Facebook to keep spreading the word.
To recap: Acclaimed dissident artist Ai Weiwei — who helped design the famed “Bird’s Nest” stadium for China’s Olympics — was arrested on April 3rd by Chinese security forces at the Beijing airport. His office and studio have been ransacked, and no one has heard from him since.
The international art community banded together, demanding his release — and the directors of more than twenty leading museums (including the Tate Modern, Museum of Modern Art, and the Guggenheim) started a petition on Change.org that has garnered worldwide attention, including in the New York Times, LA Times, and Guardian.
The campaign has helped to give rise to an international outcry. Political leaders around the world are calling for Weiwei’s release and activists have organized peaceful protests at Chinese embassies and consulates.
Though China is desperate to silence its critics, the pressure to free Weiwei continues to grow. You can help by asking five friends to sign the petition:
http://www.change.org/petitions/call-for-the-release-of-ai-weiwei
Autocratic governments know that the internet is a democratizing force, and they’ll do everything they can to suppress online activism. Know that we stand with you for change, and that we will continue to fight to make sure your voice can be heard.
– Patrick and the Change.org team
P.S. Due to these repeated attacks, our site may be slower than usual or unavailable at times over the next few days. Thanks for your patience.
Apropos of this subject, with the NYT photo of Ai Weiwei and a Dog in front of me, I befriended one of Gerald Brett’s language students, from Taiwan, at local chain coffee outlet. She taught me a wee bit of her language, and we talked rock bands (May Day, for example, she likes, and Led Zep). Meanwhile back at the ranch here is more established source, Chinese Digital Times, weighing in:
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2011/04/one-artist-detained-another-released/
love the future (includes Chinese characters):
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2011/04/love-the-future-netizens-show-support-for-ai-weiwei/
Haus der Kunst
Ai Weiwei at Haus der Kunst, 2009.
Photo by Joerg Koopmann.
On the occasion of Ai Weiwei:
Art, dissidence and resistance
Panel discussion in English
Wednesday, 27 July 2011, 7 p.m.
Haus der Kunst
Prinzregentenstrasse 1
D-80538 Munich
T +49 (0)89 21127-113
F +49 (0)89 21127-157
mail@hausderkunst.de
Opening hours
Mon–Sun 10 a.m.–8 p.m.
Thu 10 a.m.–10 p.m.
http://www.hausderkunst.de
Share this announcement on: Facebook | Delicious | Twitter
With Flora Sapio, Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg,
Hou Hanru, San Francisco Art Institute,
Gao Minglu, University of Pittsburgh,
Shi Ming, Deutsche Welle TV, and
Ulrich Wilmes, Chief curator Haus der Kunst
Moderation: Okwui Enwezor, designated Director Haus der Kunst
While China’s ministry of foreign affairs complains, that foreign news reports lack respect for the sovereignty of the Chinese judiciary, western countries want trials to meet the requirements of constitutional standards. Is it possible to build a bridge that overcomes such different positions? The panel will discuss the Ai Weiwei case as part of a comprehensive geopolitical development. Is the western art system, with its demand for universal freedom of speech, its international protests, calls on politicians and petitions asking for the release of defiant artists, a credible system? Did it not enter into a complicity with autocratic political systems years ago? And do events, such as the Sharjah Biennale, signify our silent tolerance of despotic rulers? Ai Weiwei was released on June 22, 2011. But even so, the time might have come to rethink our political and diplomatic channels of communication.
Flora Sapio is Assistant Professor at the University Würzburg. Her focus is on Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure Law, Human Rights, and Philosophy of Law.
Hou Hanru studied art history in Beijing. He teaches at the San Francisco Art Institute, curated the 10th International Istanbul Biennial in 2007 and publishes articles in art magazines, including Flash Art International and Art Monthly.
Gao Minglu studied art history in Beijing and Cambridge. In 1998 he curated the first comprehensive exhibition of contemporary art in North America (“Inside/Out: New Chinese Art”), and he is a professor for art and architectural history at the University of Pittsburgh.
Shi Ming studied law, and German literature and language in Beijing. He initially worked as a journalist for Radio China International and since 2002 he has been on the China editorial staff at Deutsche Welle.
Information and reservation (until 22 July) at T. +49 89 21127-113, events@hausderkunst.de
Kindly supported by
Kulturreferat der Landeshauptstadt München
Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, and
Museum Villa Stuck
ai wei wei photos and films in austria, focusing on his new york days:
http://www.museum-joanneum.at/en/kunsthaus/events_5/ai-weiwei-3
the blogger bob arnold of longhouse birdhouse pointed me toward this photo of ai weiwei with allen ginsberg:
http://ginsbergblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/ai-weiwei.html
i found bob arnold because he mentioned alden van buskirk
when i get to it i will go into xu bing, especially re virginia tiger tobacco project