“The idea of dominating the world is much bigger there, although it does not involve firing a single bullet. It has clearly been the aim since the 1950s and Chairman Mao.”
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Ai Weiwei
Ai Weiwei is a Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian and activist. Ai grew up in the far northwest of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been openly critical of the Chinese government and its stance on democracy and human rights. He investigated government corruption and cover-ups, in particular the Sichuan schools corruption scandal…
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culture · Chinese conceptual artist and dissident (born 1957) · designer · social activist · architect · sculptor · painter · film director · human rights defender · photographer · artist · visual artist · also Ai Weiwei, Wei-wei Ai, Ai Wei Wei, Weiwei Ai, Weiwei
Born 28 August 1957 · Q160115
69 published statements · 0 followers
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Ai Weiwei The Responsibility of an Artist
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2026· 7 entries
“want to touch on a topic like Assange.”
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“under government supervision”
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Warrington Guardian: Review: Ai Weiwei: Button Up! at Factory International
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Yahoo: Ai Weiwei says he wishes he could return to China
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The Guardian: Ai Weiwei: Button Up! review – skeleton chandeliers, a real-life temple – and too much silly Lego
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“s human rights record, citing censorship of his works over his pro-Palestinian stance and the treatment of Assange as aspects of the West”
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2025· 1 entry
The Seattle Art Museum opened a retrospective of Ai's work, Ai, Rebel: The Art and Activism of Ai Weiwei, which included works across his various mediums
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2024· 1 entry
Newsweek: Ai Weiwei Sculpture Smashed to Pieces at Exhibition Opening
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2023· 1 entry
Created a mobile app which gives users a picture of Ai's own middle finger which they can insert over another image of any place on earth (from Google Earth) which they disapprove of
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2022· 2 entries
Yahoo: Artist Ai Weiwei warns against hubris in 'troublesome' times
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Artnet: ‘Ninety Percent of the History You Learned Is Nonsense’: Ai Weiwei on Blending Political Reality With Counterfeit Art in His New Show
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2021· 4 entries
Awarded Joan B. Cendrós International Award (2021).
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Women's Wear Daily: Ai Weiwei Ready to Unveil Espresso Cups for Illy
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Ai was invited to submit a piece for the virtual British art exhibition The Great Big Art Exhibition, which was organized by Firstsite
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“Going back to China, I had to ask myself what”
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2019· 1 entry
Announced he would be leaving Berlin, saying that Germany is not an open culture
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2018· 1 entry
Ai Weiwei received Marina Kellen French Outstanding Contributions to the Arts Award granted by the Americans for the Arts
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2017· 1 entry
Wolfgang Tillmans, Anish Kapoor and Ai Weiwei are among the six artists that have designed covers for ES Magazine celebrating the "resilience of London" in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire and recent terror attacks
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2016· 3 entries
Awarded LennonOno Grant for Peace (2016).
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Co-signed a letter which claimed that the British and Swedish governments were undermining the United Nations (UN) by ignoring the findings of a UN working group that found Assange was being arbitrarily detained
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Law of the Journey featured an all-black, 230-foot-long (70 m) inflatable boat carrying 258 faceless refugee figures
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2015· 3 entries
Awarded Ambassador of Conscience Award (2015).
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Ai moved to Berlin where he maintained a large studio in a former brewery
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Has lived in Portugal, Germany, and the United Kingdom
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2014· 1 entry
For the purpose of protesting on the not inclusion of local artists in art fairs and exhibitions in USA and in Miami and Florida in particular
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2013· 5 entries
“Even though we know governments do all kinds of things I was shocked by the information about the US surveillance operation, Prism. To me, it”
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Dale Eisinger of Complex ranked Ai's blog as the fourth greatest work of performance art ever, with the writer arguing, "Much in the way early performance artists documented with film and video, Ai used the prevalent med
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And subsequently traveled to the Brooklyn Museum, New York, and two other venues
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After the existence of the PRISM surveillance program was revealed, Ai said "Even though we know governments do all kinds of things I was shocked by the information about the US surveillance operation, Prism
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Ai became a Reporters Without Borders ambassador
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2012· 2 entries
Awarded Václav Havel Prize (2012).
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Ai interviewed a member of the 50 Cent Party, a group of "online commentators" (otherwise known as sockpuppets) covertly hired by the Chinese government to post "comments favourable towards party policies and [intending]
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2011· 5 entries
Hyperallergic: 1001 Chairs Protest for Ai Weiwei This Weekend
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Ai sat on the jury of an international initiative to find a universal Logo for Human Rights
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Ai served as co-director and curator of the 2011 Gwangju Design Biennale, and co-curator of the exhibition Shanshui at The Museum of Art Lucerne
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Ai spoke at TED (conference) and was a guest lecturer at Oslo School of Architecture and Design
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Ai was arrested in China on charges of tax evasion, jailed for 81 days, and then released
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2010· 5 entries
Hyperallergic: Ai Weiwei Spreads a Sunflower Seed Carpet at Tate's Turbine Hall
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Awarded The Glass of Reason (2010).
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Served as jury member for Future Generation Art Prize, Kyiv, Ukraine; contributed design for Comme de Garcons Aoyama Store, Tokyo, Japan; and participated in a talk with Nobel Prize winner Herta Müller at the Internat
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Wallpaper* magazine nominated the residence for its Wallpaper Design Awards category: Best New Private House
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Was also awarded a Wallpaper Design Award for the Tsai Residence, which won Best New Private House
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2009· 1 entry
Authorities in Shanghai prevented Feng Zhenghu, who was originally from Wenzhou, Zhejiang, from returning home a total of eight times that year
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2008· 3 entries
The district government of Jiading, Shanghai invited Ai Weiwei to build a studio in Malu Township, as a part of the local government's efforts in developing its cultural assets
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And was part of the jury during the first three editions of the prize
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Ai curated the architecture project Ordos 100 in Ordos City, Inner Mongolia
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2006· 1 entry
Ai and HHF Architects designed a private residence in upstate New York for the investor Christopher Tsai
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2005· 2 entries
Ai was invited by Wang Shu as an external teacher of the Architecture Department of China Academy of Art
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Ai was invited to start blogging by Sina Weibo, the biggest internet platform in China
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2002· 1 entry
Was the curator of the project Jinhua Architecture Park
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2001· 1 entry
There were 850,000 AIDS sufferers in China, many of whom contracted the illness in the 1980s and 1990s as the result of a widespread plasma market operating in rural, impoverished areas and using unsafe collection method
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2000· 1 entry
Co-curated the art exhibition Fuck Off with curator Feng Boyi in Shanghai, China
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1999· 1 entry
Ai moved to Caochangdi, in the northeast of Beijing, and built a studio house—his first architectural project
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1998· 1 entry
With the purpose of promoting and developing Chinese contemporary art
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1993· 1 entry
Ai returned to China after his father became ill
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1986· 1 entry
Studied at Art Students League of New York (1983–1986).
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1985· 1 entry
Was given to relatives to be raised because she was born in violation of China's strict one-child policy
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1983· 2 entries
Studied at Parsons School of Design (1982–1983).
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Yet Ai participated in regular Stars group shows, The Stars: Ten Years, 1989 (Hanart Gallery, Hong Kong and Taipei), and a retrospective exhibition in Beijing in 2007: Origin Point (Today Art Museum, Beijing)
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1981· 2 entries
Studied at University of Pennsylvania (1981).
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Studied at University of California, Berkeley (1981).
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1980· 1 entry
Being one of the 161 students to take the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) in 1981
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1978· 3 entries
Was one of the founders of the early avant garde art group the "Stars", together with Ma Desheng, Wang Keping, Mao Lizi, Huang Rui, Li Shuang, Ah Cheng and Qu Leilei
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Studied at Beijing Film Academy (1978).
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Ai enrolled in the Beijing Film Academy and studied animation
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1958· 1 entry
The family was sent to a labour camp in Beidahuang, Heilongjiang, when Ai was one year old
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1957· 2 entries
Born 1957-08-28.
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“Reuters, May 29, 2012. This simple form of repression, of using the method of not letting anyone speak, will never succeed. The most unfair things that could have happened in a society fell upon a blind man. This is something that no one can accept or explain away with any excuse. Everyone will ask:”
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