28.9.11
24.7.11
Haus Der Kunst - on the occasion of ai weiwei
art, dissidence and resistance
panel discussion in english
27 jul 11 / wed 7 p.m.
western countries are demanding a transparent trial according to constitutional standards for the artist ai weiwei and other artists, authors and dissidents who are still imprisoned. the chinese foreign ministry, for its part insists on the sovereignty of china’s judicial system. can the gap between such contradictory positions be bridged? the panel at the haus der kunst will be discussing the case of ai weiwei – not as an isolated phenomenon, however, but rather as part of the geopolitical developments of the past few years. this, however, raises the question of the credibility of the western-oriented, international art system: on the one hand it demands universal freedom of opinion, and supports dissident artists through petitions, protests and calls for their release. on the other hand, has it not engaged in some complicity with autocratic systems? isn't tacit tolerance of the ruling, despotic elite in the country implicit in events like the sharjah biennial.
the Chinese artist ai weiwei, whose exhibition "so sorry" was shown by the haus der kunst in 2009/10, was arrested on 3 april 2011. chinese authorities alleged "economic crimes" as the reason for his arrest, but no evidence has been offered to date to support the charge. ever since his release on 22 june, the artist has been under house arrest, is prohibited from using the internet and from giving long interviews, and may not leave Beijing for a year.
with hou hanru (san francisco art institute), gao minglu (university of pittsburgh), shi ming (deutsche welle tv), flora sapio (Centre for Advanced Studies on Contemporary China, Turin) and ulrich wilmes (senior curator at the haus der kunst)
moderation: okwui enwezor (director of the haus der kunst as of 10/2011)
hou hanru studied art history in beijing. today he is a professor at the san francisco art institute. in 2007 he curated the 10th international Istanbul biennial and has published in 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 Chinese art in the usa ("inside/out: new Chinese art”). he teaches history of art and architecture at the university of pittsburgh.
shi ming studied german and law in beijing, worked for many years as a journalist with radio china and has been with the chinese service of radio deutsche welle since 2002.
Flora Sapio received her PhD in Chinese Studies in 2004. She worked at the Centre for East and South East Asian Studies at Lund University, Sweden, and is now a research fellow at the Centre for Advanced Studies on Contemporary China, Turin, and a visiting professor at the Julius-Maximilian University in Würzburg, Germany. Her main research interests are, a.o., criminal justice, administrative detention and extra-judicial violence. She is one of the founding members of the European China Law Studies Association.
ulrich wilmes began his career in 1988 as head of exhibitions at the portikus in Frankfurt/main. after holding a variety of posts, notably at the lenbachhaus in Munich and the museum ludwig in cologne, he became senior curator at the haus der kunst in 2008.
okwui enwezor was the artistic director of numerous large-scale exhibitions, notably the documenta 11 in kassel (1998–2002). throughout his career, he has worked hard to shift the international art business away from its fixation on the euro-american context. at the present time, he is the artistic director of meeting points 6, a project for performance and the visual arts in eight cities (Beirut, amman, Damascus, cairo, tunis, tangiers, brussels and berlin). on october 1, 2011, he will become the new director of the haus der kunst.
On the occasion of Ai Weiwei: Art, dissidence and resistance
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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. 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  | |||
16.7.11
Piccadilly Community Centre: Broken Britain invades Westminster
Compared to Elmgreen & Dragset, Büchel is literal-minded. But Piccadilly Community Centre is nevertheless impressively discombobulating. I have no idea how much it cost, and it clearly gives something to locals and other visitors who take it at face value. So what is this? Installation art? Community art? A tableau-vivant? Or a kind of immersive theatre in which we are the unwitting actors? Is it art – or life just tweaked a bit? All of the above. See you at the tea dance.Read further
And more...
And more...
12.7.11
london agenda
DINSDAG 12 JULI 2011
LONDON AGENDA
Pistoletto
Ai Weiwei
Stories of Change
Renhui Zhao at University of Arts London (metro Holborn)
Jake or Dinos Chapman in White Cube (opening friday) : http://www.whitecube.com/exhibitions/jdc-2011/
Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, The Village and Elsewhere (may be interesting : thailand/translation/see 1001 fairytales) :
Tracey Emin
LONDON AGENDA
Pistoletto
Ai Weiwei
Stories of Change
Renhui Zhao at University of Arts London (metro Holborn)
Jake or Dinos Chapman in White Cube (opening friday) : http://www.whitecube.com/exhibitions/jdc-2011/
Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, The Village and Elsewhere (may be interesting : thailand/translation/see 1001 fairytales) :
Tracey Emin
27.6.11
23.6.11
Anish Kapoor dedicates Leviathan sculpture to Ai Weiwei
Call goes out for museums and galleries to close for a day in sympathy for missing Chinese artist
guardian.co.uk,
Anish Kapoor's Leviathan at the Grand Palais in Paris, which he is dedicating to dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.
Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian
Anish Kapoor has dedicated his largest ever artwork – a truly enormous cathedral-like space made from inflated PVC – to the missing Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.
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.
"I've never met Ai Weiwei but he's a colleague, an artist," said Kapoor. "In a very simple way he is heroically recording human existence. All he's done is to record death by administration, death by corruption, inefficiency. I don't even think he's pointing that sharp a finger, frankly."It is more than a month that he's been completely disappeared. It is a true tragedy. Accuse him of something. Give him a lawyer. Let him defend himself … The state is not threatened by artists.
Anish Kapoor in front of his artwork Leviathan.
Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian
Kapoor was speaking at the opening of the Monumenta exhibition in Paris's Grand Palais – a commission similar to the Turbine Hall in that it is filling a vast space, this time with the added trickiness of having glass windows all around.
"This is a terror of a space, probably much more difficult than the Turbine Hall," Kapoor said. "It's three times the size, huge horizontally and vertically and above all the light is a killer. It's almost brighter than it is outside."
What Kapoor has created he's called Leviathan, a 35-metre tall work – inflated, it's 13,500 square metres .
Visitors first of all walk inside it, like going into the belly of a whale or a cathedral with three chambers veering off it. Then outside you see what it actually is – four connected balloon-type structures. Something from a science fiction film, perhaps, that's taken refuge in this grand 19th-century glass building by the Seine.
Kapoor and his team have spent the past week inflating the work and there was no trial run. "We had one shot," he said. "Doing a project like this is about taking a risk."
The work will stay up until 23 June before it is gently deflated like a bouncy castle at the end of a fair. A very big castle with absolutely no bouncing allowed. The PVC alone weighs 18 tonnes and will be folded up into three parcels when it's let down – a 90 minute process.
Kapoor is known for his supersize works from the trumpet like Marsyas at Tate Modern in 2002 to Temenos, his enormous net-like sculpture in Middlesbrough. It is an impressive piece of design and engineering. "It is a perfect bit of tailoring," said Kapoor. "A millimetre out and there are wrinkles and wrinkles aren't allowed."
Visitors taking pictures inside Anish Kapoor's Leviathan.
Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian
The work is also pan-European. The initial computer work was done in England and then the PVC was cut in Germany, assembled in Italy and set up by a Czech crew in Paris. Kapoor is the fourth artist to take on the Monumenta commission, following Anselm Kiefer, Richard Serra and Christian Boltanski.
Dedicating the work to Ai reflects mounting concern for the artist and continuing pressure on the Chinese authorities to explain why he is missing.
Tomorrow outdoor sculptures by Ai will be opened to the public at Somerset House in London, while on Friday a survey of his work will be held at the gallery which represents him in London, the Lisson – an exhibition that was planned with the artist last year. Greg Hilty, the director of the Lisson, said: "The response to what's happened to Ai Weiwei from the artistic and wider community has been incredible. It just keeps growing."
Hilty feared the situation may put up cultural walls between China and the west. "The idea of some worldwide cultural gesture is absolutely appropriate and the idea of closing is the right one because that's what this is about. If you imprison artists then you don't have them."
Anish Kapoor cancels exhibition at National Museum of China
Yesterday, Anish Kapoor cancelled plans to exhibit new sculptures at the National Museum of China in Beijing as a form of protest against the recent detainment of artist and activist Ai Weiwei. The exhibition was to be a part of the “UK Now” festival, what British Council chief executive Martin Davidson says aims to “build supportive links between people in the UK and China”.
Kapoor has previously protested Ai’s detention, most recently during the vernissage for his sculpture Leviathan, currently on display at the Grand Palais in Paris. The piece was created for “Monumenta 2011”, an annual event issued by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication. Kapoor dedicated Leviathan – a bulbous structure within which there are rooms flooded with red light – to Ai Weiwei as a gesture of solidarity and protest.
Kapoor had been very vocal in his support of Ai Weiwei. Back in May Kapoor called for the worldwide closure of museums and galleries for a day in support of Ai Weiwei, saying “In a very simple way he is recording human existence…he’s a colleague, and artist”.
http://www.aiweiweifilm.org/en/anish-kapoor-cancels-exhibition-national-museum-china/
Why Ai Weiwei Was Let Go
China Real Time Report
Russell Leigh Moses is a Beijing-based analyst and professor who writes on Chinese politics. He is writing a book on the changing role of power in the Chinese political system.
The release of Ai Weiwei after 11 weeks of detention is clearly good news for those urging his freedom, even if the condition of his release is to stay quiet. But the sudden reappearance of the artist raises as many questions as it answers, chief among them: Why?
The easy answer is that Ai was released because the Chinese government succumbed to international pressure and global outrage.
But the real explanation lies elsewhere, in Chinese domestic politics. Ai’s incarceration was a direct expression of the battle being waged in Beijing over who gets to rule the country in the coming years.
The narrative in much of the West is that Ai Weiwei was detained because he was a critic of the Chinese government. International human rights organizations insist that this was one of those cases where the international community successfully stood up to Beijing, and that Ai’s freedom was due in direct measure to the force of global opinion. They point to museums and exhibitors who signed letters and staged exhibitions, and the continued complaints by officials interacting with their Chinese counterparts and raising Ai’s case as an irritant in relations with Beijing.
But while Ai found some measure of freedom, a number of his associates remain in custody or under surveillance. Nor was there any amnesty announced for other detainees currently under investigation. Silence about those cases should be no surprise, for Beijing has shown itself to be unconcerned about polishing its international image. Where international pressure is concerned—be it for revaluation of the yuan or efforts to ease tensions in the South China Sea—Chinese officials far prefer looking tough to acting tentatively.
Ai might have a high profile in some parts, but he is a minor casualty on the larger battleground of Chinese politics. That war continues, with no clear victor in sight. Will it be the Right wing of the Communist Party, with their ideas of political reform and legal protections for citizens who wish to assist the government by being part of the loyal opposition? Will it be the Leftists, who favor a retreat to socialist values, even if takes mass movements and nostalgia to arrive there? Or will it be the current leadership in the Middle, which thinks that the society has to be supervised and–largely unafraid of what the world thinks–often happiest when foreigners complain?
Ai likely lost his freedom because he forgot that all the social media in China and the world could not protect him from being knocked about. And he probably got it back because the hardliners that fight a hundred battles every day to secure stability impressed upon him that very fact.
Russell Leigh Moses is a Beijing-based analyst and professor who writes on Chinese politics. He is writing a book on the changing role of power in the Chinese political system.
The release of Ai Weiwei after 11 weeks of detention is clearly good news for those urging his freedom, even if the condition of his release is to stay quiet. But the sudden reappearance of the artist raises as many questions as it answers, chief among them: Why?
The easy answer is that Ai was released because the Chinese government succumbed to international pressure and global outrage.
But the real explanation lies elsewhere, in Chinese domestic politics. Ai’s incarceration was a direct expression of the battle being waged in Beijing over who gets to rule the country in the coming years.
The narrative in much of the West is that Ai Weiwei was detained because he was a critic of the Chinese government. International human rights organizations insist that this was one of those cases where the international community successfully stood up to Beijing, and that Ai’s freedom was due in direct measure to the force of global opinion. They point to museums and exhibitors who signed letters and staged exhibitions, and the continued complaints by officials interacting with their Chinese counterparts and raising Ai’s case as an irritant in relations with Beijing.
But while Ai found some measure of freedom, a number of his associates remain in custody or under surveillance. Nor was there any amnesty announced for other detainees currently under investigation. Silence about those cases should be no surprise, for Beijing has shown itself to be unconcerned about polishing its international image. Where international pressure is concerned—be it for revaluation of the yuan or efforts to ease tensions in the South China Sea—Chinese officials far prefer looking tough to acting tentatively.
Ai might have a high profile in some parts, but he is a minor casualty on the larger battleground of Chinese politics. That war continues, with no clear victor in sight. Will it be the Right wing of the Communist Party, with their ideas of political reform and legal protections for citizens who wish to assist the government by being part of the loyal opposition? Will it be the Leftists, who favor a retreat to socialist values, even if takes mass movements and nostalgia to arrive there? Or will it be the current leadership in the Middle, which thinks that the society has to be supervised and–largely unafraid of what the world thinks–often happiest when foreigners complain?
Ai likely lost his freedom because he forgot that all the social media in China and the world could not protect him from being knocked about. And he probably got it back because the hardliners that fight a hundred battles every day to secure stability impressed upon him that very fact.
Beijing Releases Detained Artist
Ai Weiwei 'Confessed,' Will Pay Back Taxes, Official News Agency Says; a Yearlong Ban on Tweets, Speaking to Media
By JEREMY PAGE
Chinese authorities have released on bail Ai Weiwei and imposed a media ban on the artist. The U.S. Federal Reserve downgraded its assessment of the U.S. economy, which could impact the flow of capital in Asia. WSJ's Jake Lee and Peter Stein discuss.
China's state-run Xinhua news agency said Mr. Ai was released Wednesday night because he "confessed" his alleged crimes, agreed to pay back taxes he was accused of evading, and was suffering from a "chronic disease."
Mr. Ai said his health was fine and thanked reporters for their support as he returned to his studio late Wednesday with his mother and his wife, according to witnesses. He added that he wasn't able to say more under the conditions of his bail.
"I can't say much. I can say I'm out. I'm on bail. But I can't say anything more under the conditions of my release," he told The Wall Street Journal by telephone.
Asked how long the media ban was in place, Mr. Ai said: "One year, at least."
Reuters
Ai Weiwei waves from his Beijing studio after his release. Family members said China never officially informed them of his detention.
Mr. Ai's unexpected release appeared to be designed to curtail widespread international criticism, but left many questions unanswered about his 11 weeks in extrajudicial detention and his future as an artist and activist.
His release came two days before Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is due to begin a trip to Europe that includes Britain and Germany, two countries whose governments and artistic communities had been particularly outspoken in calling for Mr. Ai's immediate release.
The move was greeted with cautious optimism.
A spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she welcomed the release, but he said that it is only a first step and that the accusations against Mr. Ai have to be resolved in a transparent fashion by the judicial system.
Mark Toner, a U.S. State Department deputy spokesman, said, "It's always a good thing when an individual who is only in prison for exercising [his] internationally recognized human rights is released."
"But there's obviously more individuals who are being held who we want to see emerge," Mr. Toner added.
The media ban on Mr. Ai suggests that China's increasingly powerful security apparatus is determined to silence prominent critics of the Communist Party, especially online, to ensure stability in the run-up to its 90th anniversary on July 1, and to a once-a-decade leadership change next year.
Outspoken Chinese artist-activist Ai Weiwei released by government authorities after nearly three months of detainment. Video and image courtesy of Reuters.
He was the highest-profile of several dozen dissidents—including many of China's leading human-rights lawyers—who have been extrajudicially detained since appeals for a "Jasmine revolution" in China began circulating online in mid-February.
Mr. Ai, 54 years old, had been thought for a long time to be immune from such treatment because his late father, Ai Qing, was one of Communist China's most famous poets, whose works have often been quoted by Chinese leaders, including Premier Wen.
Mr. Ai's family members say Chinese authorities never officially informed them that he had been detained and never detailed the charges against him, in what many legal experts describe as a deliberate violation of judicial procedure designed to intimidate other government critics.
Lu Qing, his wife, was allowed a 15-minute meeting with her husband at an undisclosed location near Beijing last month. After the meeting, she said he appeared to be well-cared-for and wasn't being held in an official prison.
State media and some Chinese officials have repeatedly denied that Mr. Ai's case is political. They say he was being investigated for economic crimes that included evading taxes through a company that handled his work, and for illegally destroying documents.
Xinhua said on Wednesday that Mr. Ai "has been released on bail because of his good attitude in confessing his crimes as well as a chronic disease he suffers from." It didn't elaborate on the illness.
Relatives say Mr. Ai suffers from high blood pressure and diabetes.
"The decision comes also in consideration of the fact that Ai has repeatedly said he is willing to pay the taxes evaded," the report quoted Beijing police as saying.
It also quoted the police as saying that Beijing Fake Cultural Development Ltd., a company Xinhua said Mr. Ai controlled, was found to have evaded a "huge amount of taxes" and to have intentionally destroyed accounting documents.
Mr. Ai's relatives have denied those charges, and have said that the company in question is registered in the name of his wife.
Several of Mr. Ai's work colleagues were also detained when he was taken into custody and over the next few days. There was no immediate word on their fate.
Write to Jeremy Page at jeremy.page@wsj.com
Dissident Chinese Artist Is Released
David Gray/Reuters
The artist Ai Weiwei speaking to reporters at his Beijing studio early Thursday. “In legal terms, I'm — how do you say? — on bail. So I cannot give any interviews,” he said. “But I'm fine.”
By EDWARD WONG
Published: June 22, 2011
22.6.11
De Chinese kunstenaar Ai Weiwei is vrijgelaten op borgtocht. Dat melden Chinese staatsmedia. Hij zou bekend hebben dat hij de belastingen ontdook en hij zou ook chronisch ziek zijn.
Ai was begin april opgepakt toen hij een vlucht naar Hongkong wilde nemen. Hij had kort daarvoor gezegd dat hij een andere plek wilde vinden om te werken. "Wat hier gebeurt, is erg ontmoedigend", zei hij. Enkele dagen later werd hij opgepakt en hij bracht meer dan twee maanden door in de gevangenis.
Ai Weiwei komt nu vrij onder voorwaarden. Volgens de staatsmedia heeft hij bekend dat hij de belastingen ontdook, maar komt hij vrij door zijn "goede gedrag". Hij zou ook chronisch ziek zijn.
Ai is een van de meest vooraanstaande Chinese kunstenaars. Hij werkte mee aan het olympisch stadion (het Vogelnest) in Peking. Hij spaart zijn kritiek op de Chinese overheid echter niet.
Eerder werd zijn studio in Sjanghai al gesloopt en mocht hij niet naar de prijsuitreiking voor de Chinese Nobelprijswinnaar Liu Xiaobo. In februari werd zijn eerste solotentoonstelling in zijn thuisland geannuleerd omdat de timing volgens de organisatoren "politiek te gevoelig" lag.
Chinese kunstenaar Ai Weiwei vrij op borgtocht - Buitenland - De Morgen
Chinese kunstenaar Ai Weiwei vrij op borgtocht - Buitenland - De Morgen
"Ik kan niet spreken"
Zelf sprak Ai kort met een journalist van het Duitse boulevardblad Bild. "Ik maak het goed. Ik ben weer thuis en ik ben vrij", zei hij. "Maar ik kan niet spreken." Mensenrechtenorganisaties spraken eerder de vrees uit dat Ai is vrijgelaten op voorwaarde dat hij zijn toon matigt.
Ai was onder meer kritisch over de censuur die China toepast op het internet. De Volksrepubliek heeft sinds begin dit jaar de vervolging van politieke dissidenten opgevoerd uit angst voor protesten. Directe aanleiding daarvoor zijn de volksopstanden tegen een aantal autoritaire regimes in de Arabische wereld.
Vogelnest
De arrestatie van Ai wekte wereldwijd verontwaardiging, en leidde tot veroordelingen van onder meer de Verenigde Staten en de Europese Unie. De kunstenaar is vooral bekend omdat hij heeft meegewerkt aan het ontwerp van het olympisch stadion in Peking, beter bekend als het Vogelnest. (afp/lpb/adha)
DM UPDATE De Chinese kunstenaar Ai Weiwei is op borgtocht vrijgelaten. Dat heeft zijn zus vandaag bevestigd naar aanleiding van een bericht van de de Chinese staatsmedia. Ai werd begin april opgepakt op verdenking van "economische misdrijven". Critici menen echter dat Peking de kritische kunstenaar de mond wil snoeren.
Volgens het staatspersbureau Xinhua is Ai vrijgelaten omdat hij een "goede houding" heeft getoond door te bekennen dat hij zich schuldig heeft gemaakt aan belastingontduiking. De 53-jarige kunstenaar zou ook lijden aan een niet nader genoemde chronische ziekte. Zijn zus zei evenwel dat zijn gezondheid "oké" is."Ik kan niet spreken"
Zelf sprak Ai kort met een journalist van het Duitse boulevardblad Bild. "Ik maak het goed. Ik ben weer thuis en ik ben vrij", zei hij. "Maar ik kan niet spreken." Mensenrechtenorganisaties spraken eerder de vrees uit dat Ai is vrijgelaten op voorwaarde dat hij zijn toon matigt.
Ai was onder meer kritisch over de censuur die China toepast op het internet. De Volksrepubliek heeft sinds begin dit jaar de vervolging van politieke dissidenten opgevoerd uit angst voor protesten. Directe aanleiding daarvoor zijn de volksopstanden tegen een aantal autoritaire regimes in de Arabische wereld.
Vogelnest
De arrestatie van Ai wekte wereldwijd verontwaardiging, en leidde tot veroordelingen van onder meer de Verenigde Staten en de Europese Unie. De kunstenaar is vooral bekend omdat hij heeft meegewerkt aan het ontwerp van het olympisch stadion in Peking, beter bekend als het Vogelnest. (afp/lpb/adha)
De Standaard - Ai Weiwei weer vrij
De Standaard - Ai Weiwei weer vrij
De Chinese kunstenaar Ai Weiwei is door de Chinese autoriteiten op borgtocht vrijgelaten. Hij zou hebben bekend dat hij zich schuldig heeft gemaakt aan belastingontduiking. Zijn gebrekkige gezondheid zou eveneens hebben bijgedragen tot zijn vrijlating, meldde staatspersbureau Xinhua woensdag.
Ai toonde ’goed gedrag door zijn misdaden op te biechten’ en heeft herhaaldelijk beloofd alsnog belasting te betalen, aldus Xinhua. Een bedrijf van Ai, Beijing Fake Cultural Development Ltd., zou de belastingen op ’grote schaal’ hebben ontdoken en doelbewust rekeningen hebben vernietigd.
The Guardian kon een korte reactie van Weiwei te pakken krijgen. 'Ik ben weer bij mijn familie', zei hij aan de Britse krant. 'Ik ben blij en het gaat goed met mij.' Meer kon hij echter niet kwijt omdat hij maar op borgtocht vrij is. 'Ik hoop dat jullie dat begrijpen.'
Familie en aanhangers van de kunstenaar hebben deze aantijgingen altijd verworpen.
Ai, die grote bekendheid verwierf door zijn betrokkenheid bij het ontwerp van het olympische Vogelneststadion in Beijing, werd op 3 april op de luchthaven van de Chinese hoofdstad ingerekend. Hij is eveneens bekend door zijn anti-autoritaire houding, die bij de Chinese regering geregeld grote ergernis wekt.
20.5.11
Ai Weiwei in 'good physical health but mentally conflicted'
Ai Weiwei in 'good physical health but mentally conflicted'
Chinese authorities allow wife, Lu Qing, to visit artist and activist who had not been seen since arrest at Beijing airport on 3 April
Ai Weiwei's wife said he 'seemed conflicted, contained, his face seemed tense' when she visited him on Sunday. Photograph: Andy Wong/AP
Detained artist Ai Weiwei seems to be in good physical health but mentally conflicted and tense, his wife has said after seeing him for the first time in six weeks.
Lu Qing said she was taken to see her husband for about 20 minutes on Sunday afternoon, the first contact friends and relatives have had with the 53-year-old Chinese artist and activist since officials stopped him at Beijing airport on 3 April.
It is not clear where he is being held and the people who arranged the visit did not show her identification, she added.
"I could see redness in his eyes. It was obvious that without freedom to express himself he was not behaving naturally even with me, someone from his family," Lu told Associated Press. "He seemed conflicted, contained, his face was tense."
The couple sat across the table from each other and their visit was supervised by two people, one "who seemed to be in charge of Ai", and another who took notes.
"We could not talk about the economic charges or other stuff, mainly about the family and health," Lu said. "We were careful, we knew that the deal could be broken at any moment, so we were careful."
Ai was not handcuffed, was wearing his own clothes rather than a uniform, and retained his beard. He said he had his blood pressure checked several times a day and had received medication he needed for diabetes. He was able to exercise by walking and said he was eating and sleeping well.
"The fact that Lu Qing could see him was already a very merciful act by the authorities," his mother, Gao Ying, said, adding that Ai did not discuss his charge beyond saying he "did not understand it".
She added: "The rumours that we've heard about him being tortured have been too much for us to take, but now seeing is believing. His condition is good."
Gao said her son had been particularly concerned about her health. "Of course [Lu] had to tell him that I'm doing well and not that I'm at home crying everyday … He was very moved and tears welled up in his eyes," she added.
Ai's sister Gao Ge said: "Now that we've seen that his health is OK, of course we are a bit less anxious, but that's not to say we want him to stay where he is … We really want this case to be dealt with as soon as possible and for the government to follow proper procedures in keeping with Chinese law."
Liu Xiaoyuan, a lawyer who has said he is willing to represent the artist if necessary, said Ai was not in a jail or a detention centre, but that neither Lu nor Ai were sure where he was being held.
He said police had still not informed Ai's family of detention and that he suspected the artist was being held under residential surveillance. Joshua Rosenzweig of the Dui Hua foundation, which supports political prisoners, said the law did not spell out whether police should notify family members of the measure because normally it would be carried out at an individual's home.
Residential surveillance orders last around six months. In comparison, police must inform relatives of detention within 24 hours, unless it would impede the investigation, and report to prosecutors on the case within a month.
"[Residential surveillance] is supposed to be less punitive but the way it is being carried out – if it is – is really turning things on its head. It is much more advantageous to police. There are very few limits on their ability to interrogate you," added Rosenzweig.
Ai's case comes amid a broader crackdown on lawyers, dissidents and activists in recent months. His friend Wen Tao, 38, driver and cousin Zhang Jinsong, also known as Xiao Pang, 43, accountant Hu Mingfen, 55, and colleague Liu Zhenggang, 49, all remain missing.
Officials have said Ai is under investigation for suspected economic crimes.
Last week, the vice-foreign minister, Fu Ying, said it was "very condescending for the Europeans to come in to tell China that some people are beyond the law".
But relatives believe his detention is retaliation for his social and political activism.
Gao Ying told CBS recently: "I think in reality, he was taken because he was protecting the rights of ordinary citizens and speaking for them … I think … he offended people in power and they hate him, so now they are looking for an opportunity to take him down."
11.5.11
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.
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.
HACKERS TAKE DOWN AI WEIWEI PETITION
China-based hackers temporarily took downChange.org’s Call for the Release of Ai Weiwei petition with a denial-of-service attack. Don’t be surprised: Chinese government’s tech hounds have a documented record of DDoS attacks on expat dissidents and a “notorious pattern” of internet monitoring human rights activists.
The Guggenheim supported petition’s“unprecedented success of a campaign by leading global art museums” made it a prime target. It now has more than 93,000 signatures, but Ai Weiwei is still missing.
The Guggenheim supported petition’s“unprecedented success of a campaign by leading global art museums” made it a prime target. It now has more than 93,000 signatures, but Ai Weiwei is still missing.
AI WEIWEI’S ROCK STAR FRIEND DISAPPEARS
When questioned, airport officials repsonded “we didn’t take anyone away today.”
‘WHO’S AFRAID OF AI WEIWEI?’ GRAFFITI GIRL RISKS 10 YEARS IN JAIL
“I have to thank the police for drawing so much attention to this issue,” activist Tangerine tells the press. “Even if I have to go to jail, I think that would be a very, very worth it price to pay.” With her signature Ai stenciled and illegally projected all over Hong Kong, Tangerine is being investigated by a serious crime squad that usually deals with rape and murder.
Instead of a standard fine and three months detention for “graffiti,” the authorities want to charge the 22-year-old artist with damages and sentence her to an unusually stiff term of 10 years. She’s willing to risk it to deliver her message:
[Ai] is one of the most prominent contemporary artists in the world right now. And if he can be arrested, then there’s no identity we can hide behind: Being a Hong Kong citizen doesn’t help anymore; being rich or social status doesn’t help. There’s no shield any more against this very naked power that’s trying to engulf us.
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