Symbol of the freedom struggle in China: Who is Ai Weiwei?

Ai Weiwei was born in 1957 in Beijing, the capital of China.

Weiwei was sent to the Xinjiang Labor Camp in 1958 due to the dissenting views of his father, Ai Qing, who was a poet with his family. Therefore, although he was born in Beijing, he lived in Shihezi until the age of 16.

He began studying at the Beijing Film Academy in 1978.

Weiwei, who lived in the USA between 1981 and 1993 and started his artistic activities, had to return to his country in 1993 due to the deterioration of his father's health conditions.

He built his first architectural project in 1998 in Caochangdi, northeast of Beijing.

He founded FAKE Design in 2003 due to his interest in architecture.

In 2005, he received an offer to create a blog by Sina Weibo, China's most important internet platform. In the same year, he was among the curators of Mahjong: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection, which was exhibited in Sweden, Germany, Austria and the USA.

He was an artistic consultant to Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron for the Beijing National Stadium, built for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

Weiwei is currently the artistic director of China Art Archives & Warehouse (CAAW), which was founded in 1997 and is a partner of.

Ai Weiwei, who is married to the artist Lu Qing, has an illegitimate son.

Rebellious Artist Ai Weiwei in 12 Items

While Ai Weiwei continues his productions with a very calm, creative, humorous, and sensitive language, he turns into an artist with who the Chinese state keeps an eye. While this strengthens the popularity of the artist, on the contrary, it strengthens him instead of silencing him.

1. He Gets His Ruthless Spirit From His Father

Ai Weiwei, who we know for being active in the fields of sculpture, installation, curation, photography, and film, is also a very important name, of the Chinese poet Ai Qing. The artist's father was condemned during the Anti-Rightist Movement in 1958 and sent to the Xinjiang labor camp with his wife, Gao Ying. Ai Weiwei, who we guessed to have inherited his rebel spirit from his father, is 1 year old at this time. The artist lives in Shihezi until the age of 16. He returns to Beijing with his family in 1975.

2. Twenty-One Curiosity and Ai Weiwei

He entered the Beijing Film Academy in 1978 and studied with Chinese directors Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou. In the following years, he lived in the USA, mostly in New York, making conceptual art with ready-made objects. He reads at the Parsons School of Design and the Art Students League of New York. Meanwhile, he is fascinated by the game Twenty-One and frequents the Atlantic City Casinos. According to an article on blackjackchamp.com, he is still among the top professional Twenty-One players.

3. He Signs Many Artistic Projects

He returns to China in 1993 due to his father's illness. He helped found the Beijing East Village with experimental artists and published a three-series book series about artists of the period. Black Cover Book (1994), White Cover Book (1995), and Gray Cover Book (1997). He is also the art director of China Art Archives & Warehouse (CAAW), founded in 1997, and of which he is a partner. In 2005, he was invited to blog by Sina Weibo, China's most important internet platform. This famous blog is often banned. He is among the curators of Mahjong: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection, which was exhibited in Sweden, Germany, Austria, and the USA in the same year.

4. Described as China's Rebel

The brave artist, who draws attention with his political language, message-oriented works, and clever productions, is defined as the "Rebel Genius of China". The artist, who touches on what is happening in China and the relations between China and the West in his productions, is determined not to keep what is happening in China a secret. Even if he gets into trouble all the time and faces many abrasive events such as imprisonment, curfew, and assault, he favors reading what he knows.

5. Also a Brave Critic

He always openly criticizes the Chinese government's stance on democracy and human rights and carries it to his work. It sees, cares and most importantly, it shows. That's why it's all happened to him. It shares with the public the construction of public schools and the inadequate materials used, which were destroyed in the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake and caused many deaths. The documentary that follows the children who lost their lives in village schools is one of the best examples of this oppositional attitude. Trying to reveal the names of 5000 children whose deaths were tried to be hidden by the government, Ai Weiwei became the target of official authorities during this period and was even exposed to physical violence by the police.

6. Arrested for Slander

On April 3, 2011, he was arrested by the Chinese government on charges of tax fraud at Beijing Airport. He was released on June 22, 2011. It is well known that the main reason for his arrest has nothing to do with tax evasion. This arrest warrant is meant to intimidate, silence, and warn. However, this does not intimidate Ai Weiwei.

7. He is an indomitable human rights defender

Weiwei, who is a social, political, and cultural critic as well as an artist, is also a human rights defender. A husband employs the villagers to make the porcelain sunflower seeds made for the "Sunflowers Seeds" exhibition and gives their rights to the people who are employed by the Chinese state for free. For this reason, he is once again imprisoned by the government.

8. He never compromises on his humorous language

Composed of 1300 rusty irons, the installation "F Grass" continues Weiwei's "Sunflower Seeds" work for Tate from 2010. The installation, exhibited at Harbor Green Park as part of the Vancouver Biennial, creates a calligraphic f by referring to the world's most famous curse.

9. Never Regret movie

"Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry" by Alison Klayman is a documentary that reveals the artist's story. The film, which conveys important moments such as Weiwei's violence by the police, the destruction of his workshop, and his release after being detained for a long time, successfully summarizes the artist's story, but it cannot survive until today.

10. The most powerful name in the art world

The state inadvertently causes Weiwei to become a more famous artist during these turbulent times of arrest, release, and assault. The artist was chosen as the most powerful name in the art world by Art Review magazine in order to congratulate the struggle he went through in 2011.

11. When asked, “Why”?

When the successful artist is asked why he continues his struggle with the state even at the cost of his life, he answers: “If artists cannot talk about human dignity and human rights, who else will do it?”. What else can we do but bow before him with respect?

12. Weiwei got his passport

Police confiscated Ai's passport after a communist protest to overthrow the current regime at Beijing airport in April 2011. The artist spent about 81 days in prison for the incident and said he was subjected to prolonged interrogation and psychological violence while inside.

The artist announced on his Instagram account that his passport, which had been confiscated by the Chinese government for more than 4 years, was returned in 2015. Weiwei posted a photo of himself holding his new passport with the caption, "I received a passport today." The barriers preventing him from participating in exhibitions that he had to conduct remotely and visiting his family, whom he had not been able to reunite with for a year, were finally lifted.