Ai Weiwei guest professor at Berlin University of the Arts april 2011

Artist Ai Weiwei awarded guest professorship at Berlin University of the Arts, to be funded by Einstein Foundation Berlin

At a joint press conference on Wednesday, 20. April 2011, Prof. Dr. E. Jürgen Zöllner, president of the board at the Einstein Foundation Berlin, and UdK Berlin president Prof. Martin Rennert announced that Chinese artist Ai Weiwei had been appointed professor at Berlin University of the Arts. The guest professorship will be financed through the Einstein Foundation Berlin. It will be attached to the Graduate School for Arts and Sciences of the UdK Berlin, which is also financially supported by the Einstein Foundation Berlin.

Also present on the podium was artist Olafur Eliasson, professor at the UdK Berlin since 2008 and director of the university’s Institut für Raumexperimente. Eliasson emphasised that the intention was to integrate Ai Weiwei into the work of his institute as well. The procedure to appoint Ai Weiwei to the UdK Berlin has been in progress since December 2010. In April he was imprisoned by the Chinese government and his studio was destroyed. The Berlin institutions thus sought to expedite his appointment to the university, intensifying their negotiations. It is not yet clear when the artist will take up his professorship.