24 februari 2015

Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei's new studio, Shanghai, 2010. (bron: The Telegraph)

"Shanghai studio controversy

In November 2010, Ai was placed under house arrest by the Chinese police. He said this was to prevent the planned party marking the demolition of his newly built Shanghai studio.

The building was designed and built by Ai upon encouragement and persuasion from a "high official [from Shanghai]" as part of a new cultural area designated by Shanghai Municipal authorities; Ai would have used it as a studio and to teach architecture courses. But now Ai has been accused of erecting the structure without the necessary planning permission and a demolition notice has been ordered, even though, Ai said, officials had been extremely enthusiastic, and the entire application and planning process was "under government supervision". According to Ai, a number of artists were invited to build new studios in this area of Shanghai because officials wanted to create a cultural area.

On 3 November 2010, Ai said the government had informed him two months earlier that the newly completed studio would be knocked down because it was illegal. Ai complained that this was unfair, as he was "the only one singled out to have my studio destroyed". The Guardian reported Ai saying Shanghai municipal authorities were "frustrated" by documentaries on subjects they considered sensitive:[35] two of the better known ones featured Shanghai resident Feng Zhenghu, who lived in forced exile for three months in Narita Airport, Tokyo; another well-known documentary focused on Yang Jia, who murdered six Shanghai police officers.

In the end, the party took place without Weiwei's presence; his supporters feasted on river crab, an allusion to "harmony", and a euphemism used to jeer official censorship. Ai was released from house arrest the next day.

Like other activists and intellectuals, Ai was prevented from leaving China in late 2010. Ai suggested that the authorities wanted to prevent him from attending the ceremony in December 2010 to award the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to fellow dissident Liu Xiaobo. Ai said that he had not been invited to the ceremony, and was attempting to travel to South Korea for a meeting when he was told that he could not leave for reasons of national security.

In the evening of 11 January 2011, Ai's studio was demolished in a surprise move by the local government." (bron: WikipediA)
















Ai Weiwei's studio, Shanghai. (bron: flickr/triplefivechina, foto's: Drew Bates(?))




Ai Weiwei’s River Crab fest. (bron: Art Market Monitor en Cara Cina)












The demolishing of Ai Weiwei's studio, 2011. (bron: flickr/duyanpili)




Ai Weiwei, in the ruins of his studio. (bron: Lebbeus Woods)


Ai Weiwei: Shanghai Studio, 2011. (bron: Paddle8)

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