Freed Chinese Artist Reported to Be Back at Work, Though Barred From Talking to Press
Published: July 6, 2011
BEIJING — A Swiss gallery owner who represents Ai Weiwei, the dissident artist and international celebrity recently let out of detention, said Wednesday that Mr. Ai was working on his art again, even though he could not do interviews or meet with journalists because of the conditions of his release.The gallery owner, Urs Meile, said in an e-mail that he had visited Mr. Ai at his home from June 30 to July 3 and that Mr. Ai was in good health.“The detention could not break his incomparable presence and vigor, his humor and his alertness!” Mr. Meile said in the e-mail. “He is full of energy and again intensively dedicating himself to his artistic creation.”Mr. Meile added that Mr. Ai “is able to work without interruption, to make plans and to realize projects together with his team.”Mr. Meile did not give details on what kinds of projects Mr. Ai might be pursuing. Before he was detained, Mr. Ai, 54, was seeking to expose the use of paid commentators on the Internet by the Communist Party, according to a report in late June by Information, a Danish news organization. Mr. Ai had spoken about the project with a journalist for Information. The commentators referred to by Mr. Ai are believed to be paid each time they post something that bolsters or repeats the government position on a certain issue.Mr. Ai’s projects have been increasingly political in recent years. Perhaps the most controversial was an exhibition involving school backpacks meant to evoke the thousands of children who died in school collapses in the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan Province. Parents of the dead children have been lobbying the central government to look into the role of corruption in the shoddy construction of schools, but the government has tried to silence the parents by paying them off or detaining them.Mr. Ai was beaten by police officers in a hotel room in Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan, when he traveled to the province to look further into the school collapses and support the parents.Mr. Ai was detained by the police in April at the international airport in Beijing as he was about to board a flight to Hong Kong. He was let go 81 days later, his normally expansive girth considerably diminished. Family members and supporters said he had been detained because of his political candor, but Chinese officials said the Beijing police were looking into accusations of tax evasion. Mr. Ai was released only after he “confessed” to tax fraud, according to Xinhua, the state news agency. Mr. Ai has been allowed to travel around Beijing, but he is barred from leaving the city.Mr. Meile’s gallery is in Beijing’s arts neighborhood of Caochangdi, where Mr. Ai has his studio and home.“He’s contriving, discussing, debating, reflecting, as we know him,” Mr. Meile wrote. “With the support of his wife Lu Qing, his team and his friends he is about to review and digest the past two and a half months.”
China artist Ai Weiwei released on bail
Mr Ai said he could not speak to the media about his case
Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei has returned home having been freed after more than two months' detention.He was bailed late on Wednesday after pleading guilty to charges of tax evasion, Xinhua news agency said.An outspoken critic of China's human rights record, his arrest in April prompted a global campaign for his release.The 54-year-old said he was back home and in good health in a phone interview with the BBC."I am already home, released on bail, I can't talk to media but I am well, thanks for all the media attention," he said.Mr Ai was detained as he boarded a Beijing flight bound for Hong Kong.Perhaps most famous for helping design the Bird's Nest stadium that became the centre-piece for Beijing's 2008 Olympics, he was held at a secret location without access to a lawyer.Beijing alleged the artist had evaded taxes and destroyed evidence; his supporters said the charges were motivated by his activism.'I'm out'
Xinhua reported that Mr Ai had offered to repay the taxes and would be released because of "his good attitude in confessing his crimes".The agency quoted police as saying the company that handles business aspects of Mr Ai's career, Beijing Fake Cultural Development, had evaded "a huge amount of taxes and intentionally destroyed accounting documents".Xinhua also reported that Mr Ai was suffering from a "chronic illness".China's foreign ministry previously said that Mr Ai was under investigation for "economic crimes".It insisted that his arrest - which came amid one of China's biggest clampdowns on activists in years and was condemned by Western governments - had "nothing to do with human rights or freedom of expression".But the release coincides with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit this week to Germany and the UK, two countries with which Mr Ai has strong professional ties and public support.Beijing has been under enormous pressure to free the artist, says the BBC's Damian Grammaticas in Beijing.The case had generated criticism from the international community that China was breaking its own laws by holding Mr Ai in secret without access to a lawyer, adds our correspondent.A message from the Twitter account of Mr Ai's lawyer, Liu Xiaoyuan, said he had received a text message from his client's phone which simply read: "I'm out!"Chinese human rights activist Wen Kejian welcomed the release, saying Mr Ai's arrest had been political.Artist's appeal
The US state department welcomed Mr Ai's release, adding: "But there's obviously more individuals who are being held, so we want to see the release of all these people."Baroness Ashton, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, said Mr Ai's case had been "the subject of widespread concern" and featured in recent EU-Chinese discussions on human rights in Beijing.She said she welcomed the news "while regretting the circumstances of his detention".In a statement, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said his release "can only be a first step" and that China must now fully explain to Mr Ai the accusations against him.The German director of Human Rights Watch said it was "not by accident" that Mr Ai had been released shortly before Mr Wen's European visit, but warned he could now be facing further restriction on his movements."Examples from the past of other dissidents that were released have shown that released opponents of the system face strict restrictions and many have been silenced," said Wenzel Michalski.
Rights group Amnesty International said Mr Ai's long detention without charge had violated China's own legal process.
"It is vital that the international outcry over Ai Weiwei be extended to those activists still languishing in secret detention or charged with inciting subversion," said Amnesty's Catherine Baber.
The circumstances of one of Ai Weiwei's relatives, his accountant and driver, who were detained at the same time as him, remain unknown.British sculptor Anish Kapoor, who had led criticism of Beijing over the detention, called for the artist to be given a fair trial."While I am thankful that he has been released, I do not think that artists should present their work in China until the situation has been resolved," said Mr Kapoor.The Indian-born sculptor had dedicated his monumental Leviathan art installation in Paris, unveiled last month, to Mr Ai.Ai Weiwei gained international recognition in the early 1980s for his monolithic brick sculptures.Last October, he unveiled a carpet of 100 million porcelain sunflower seeds at London's Tate Modern, which he said questioned the role of an individual in society... more on Ai Wei wei on BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12997324 Profile: Ai Weiwei
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13475398 Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's company 'evaded taxes'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12174873 China artist Ai Weiwei's Shanghai studio demolishedAi Weiwei (born 18 May 1957)
is a Chinese artist and political activist, who is also active in architecture, curating, photography, film, and social and cultural criticism.[1][2]
Ai collaborated with Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron as the artistic consultant on the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Olympics.[3]
As a political activist, he has been highly and openly critical of the Chinese Government's stance on democracy and human rights. He has investigated government corruption and cover-ups, in particular the Sichuan schools corruption scandal following the collapse of so-called "tofu-skin schools" in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.[4]
In 2011, following his arrest at Beijing airport on 3 April, he was held for over two months without any official charges being filed; officials alluded to their allegations of "economic crimes" (tax evasion).
^ "Ai Weiwei". Wolseley Media. 2008. http://www.wolseleymedia.com.au/AP-Ai-Weiwei.html. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
^ a b Cooper, Rafi (6 July 2008). "Cultural revolutionary". The Observer (UK). http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/visualart/story/0,,2289411,00.html. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
^ "China's New Faces: Ai Weiwei". BBC News. 3 March 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4298689.stm. Retrieved 26 April 2010.^ Osnos, Evan, "It's Not Beautiful", The New Yorker, 24 May 2010 pp.54–63.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/oct/11/tate-modern-sunflower-seeds-review
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/83598_Aiweiwei
83598 Aiweiwei (provisional designation: 2001 SP265) is a main-belt minor planet. It was discovered by William Kwong Yu Yeung at the Desert Eagle Observatory near Benson, Arizona, on September 25, 2001. It is named after Ai Weiwei, a Chinese artist.
Template (2007) after collapse
BEIJING — A Swiss gallery owner who represents Ai Weiwei, the dissident artist and international celebrity recently let out of detention, said Wednesday that Mr. Ai was working on his art again, even though he could not do interviews or meet with journalists because of the conditions of his release.
The gallery owner, Urs Meile, said in an e-mail that he had visited Mr. Ai at his home from June 30 to July 3 and that Mr. Ai was in good health.
“The detention could not break his incomparable presence and vigor, his humor and his alertness!” Mr. Meile said in the e-mail. “He is full of energy and again intensively dedicating himself to his artistic creation.”
Mr. Meile added that Mr. Ai “is able to work without interruption, to make plans and to realize projects together with his team.”
Mr. Meile did not give details on what kinds of projects Mr. Ai might be pursuing. Before he was detained, Mr. Ai, 54, was seeking to expose the use of paid commentators on the Internet by the Communist Party, according to a report in late June by Information, a Danish news organization. Mr. Ai had spoken about the project with a journalist for Information. The commentators referred to by Mr. Ai are believed to be paid each time they post something that bolsters or repeats the government position on a certain issue.
Mr. Ai’s projects have been increasingly political in recent years. Perhaps the most controversial was an exhibition involving school backpacks meant to evoke the thousands of children who died in school collapses in the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan Province. Parents of the dead children have been lobbying the central government to look into the role of corruption in the shoddy construction of schools, but the government has tried to silence the parents by paying them off or detaining them.
Mr. Ai was beaten by police officers in a hotel room in Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan, when he traveled to the province to look further into the school collapses and support the parents.
Mr. Ai was detained by the police in April at the international airport in Beijing as he was about to board a flight to Hong Kong. He was let go 81 days later, his normally expansive girth considerably diminished. Family members and supporters said he had been detained because of his political candor, but Chinese officials said the Beijing police were looking into accusations of tax evasion. Mr. Ai was released only after he “confessed” to tax fraud, according to Xinhua, the state news agency. Mr. Ai has been allowed to travel around Beijing, but he is barred from leaving the city.
Mr. Meile’s gallery is in Beijing’s arts neighborhood of Caochangdi, where Mr. Ai has his studio and home.
“He’s contriving, discussing, debating, reflecting, as we know him,” Mr. Meile wrote. “With the support of his wife Lu Qing, his team and his friends he is about to review and digest the past two and a half months.”
Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei has returned home having been freed after more than two months' detention.
He was bailed late on Wednesday after pleading guilty to charges of tax evasion, Xinhua news agency said.
An outspoken critic of China's human rights record, his arrest in April prompted a global campaign for his release.
The 54-year-old said he was back home and in good health in a phone interview with the BBC.
"I am already home, released on bail, I can't talk to media but I am well, thanks for all the media attention," he said.
Mr Ai was detained as he boarded a Beijing flight bound for Hong Kong.
Perhaps most famous for helping design the Bird's Nest stadium that became the centre-piece for Beijing's 2008 Olympics, he was held at a secret location without access to a lawyer.
Beijing alleged the artist had evaded taxes and destroyed evidence; his supporters said the charges were motivated by his activism.
'I'm out'Xinhua reported that Mr Ai had offered to repay the taxes and would be released because of "his good attitude in confessing his crimes".
The agency quoted police as saying the company that handles business aspects of Mr Ai's career, Beijing Fake Cultural Development, had evaded "a huge amount of taxes and intentionally destroyed accounting documents".
Xinhua also reported that Mr Ai was suffering from a "chronic illness".
China's foreign ministry previously said that Mr Ai was under investigation for "economic crimes".
It insisted that his arrest - which came amid one of China's biggest clampdowns on activists in years and was condemned by Western governments - had "nothing to do with human rights or freedom of expression".
But the release coincides with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit this week to Germany and the UK, two countries with which Mr Ai has strong professional ties and public support.
Beijing has been under enormous pressure to free the artist, says the BBC's Damian Grammaticas in Beijing.
The case had generated criticism from the international community that China was breaking its own laws by holding Mr Ai in secret without access to a lawyer, adds our correspondent.
A message from the Twitter account of Mr Ai's lawyer, Liu Xiaoyuan, said he had received a text message from his client's phone which simply read: "I'm out!"
Chinese human rights activist Wen Kejian welcomed the release, saying Mr Ai's arrest had been political.
Artist's appealThe US state department welcomed Mr Ai's release, adding: "But there's obviously more individuals who are being held, so we want to see the release of all these people."
Baroness Ashton, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, said Mr Ai's case had been "the subject of widespread concern" and featured in recent EU-Chinese discussions on human rights in Beijing.
She said she welcomed the news "while regretting the circumstances of his detention".
In a statement, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said his release "can only be a first step" and that China must now fully explain to Mr Ai the accusations against him.
The German director of Human Rights Watch said it was "not by accident" that Mr Ai had been released shortly before Mr Wen's European visit, but warned he could now be facing further restriction on his movements.
"Examples from the past of other dissidents that were released have shown that released opponents of the system face strict restrictions and many have been silenced," said Wenzel Michalski.
Rights group Amnesty International said Mr Ai's long detention without charge had violated China's own legal process.
"It is vital that the international outcry over Ai Weiwei be extended to those activists still languishing in secret detention or charged with inciting subversion," said Amnesty's Catherine Baber.
The circumstances of one of Ai Weiwei's relatives, his accountant and driver, who were detained at the same time as him, remain unknown.
Rights group Amnesty International said Mr Ai's long detention without charge had violated China's own legal process.
"It is vital that the international outcry over Ai Weiwei be extended to those activists still languishing in secret detention or charged with inciting subversion," said Amnesty's Catherine Baber.
The circumstances of one of Ai Weiwei's relatives, his accountant and driver, who were detained at the same time as him, remain unknown.
British sculptor Anish Kapoor, who had led criticism of Beijing over the detention, called for the artist to be given a fair trial.
"While I am thankful that he has been released, I do not think that artists should present their work in China until the situation has been resolved," said Mr Kapoor.
The Indian-born sculptor had dedicated his monumental Leviathan art installation in Paris, unveiled last month, to Mr Ai.
Ai Weiwei gained international recognition in the early 1980s for his monolithic brick sculptures.
Last October, he unveiled a carpet of 100 million porcelain sunflower seeds at London's Tate Modern, which he said questioned the role of an individual in society.
.. more on Ai Wei wei on BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12997324 Profile: Ai Weiwei
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13475398 Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's company 'evaded taxes'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12174873 China artist Ai Weiwei's Shanghai studio demolished
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12997324 Profile: Ai Weiwei
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13475398 Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's company 'evaded taxes'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12174873 China artist Ai Weiwei's Shanghai studio demolished
Ai Weiwei (born 18 May 1957)
is a Chinese artist and political activist, who is also active in architecture, curating, photography, film, and social and cultural criticism.[1][2]
Ai collaborated with Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron as the artistic consultant on the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Olympics.[3]
As a political activist, he has been highly and openly critical of the Chinese Government's stance on democracy and human rights. He has investigated government corruption and cover-ups, in particular the Sichuan schools corruption scandal following the collapse of so-called "tofu-skin schools" in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.[4]
In 2011, following his arrest at Beijing airport on 3 April, he was held for over two months without any official charges being filed; officials alluded to their allegations of "economic crimes" (tax evasion).
^ "Ai Weiwei". Wolseley Media. 2008. http://www.wolseleymedia.com.au/AP-Ai-Weiwei.html. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
^ a b Cooper, Rafi (6 July 2008). "Cultural revolutionary". The Observer (UK). http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/visualart/story/0,,2289411,00.html. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
^ "China's New Faces: Ai Weiwei". BBC News. 3 March 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4298689.stm. Retrieved 26 April 2010.^ Osnos, Evan, "It's Not Beautiful", The New Yorker, 24 May 2010 pp.54–63.
is a Chinese artist and political activist, who is also active in architecture, curating, photography, film, and social and cultural criticism.[1][2]
Ai collaborated with Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron as the artistic consultant on the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Olympics.[3]
As a political activist, he has been highly and openly critical of the Chinese Government's stance on democracy and human rights. He has investigated government corruption and cover-ups, in particular the Sichuan schools corruption scandal following the collapse of so-called "tofu-skin schools" in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.[4]
In 2011, following his arrest at Beijing airport on 3 April, he was held for over two months without any official charges being filed; officials alluded to their allegations of "economic crimes" (tax evasion).
^ "Ai Weiwei". Wolseley Media. 2008. http://www.wolseleymedia.com.au/AP-Ai-Weiwei.html. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
^ a b Cooper, Rafi (6 July 2008). "Cultural revolutionary". The Observer (UK). http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/visualart/story/0,,2289411,00.html. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
^ "China's New Faces: Ai Weiwei". BBC News. 3 March 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4298689.stm. Retrieved 26 April 2010.^ Osnos, Evan, "It's Not Beautiful", The New Yorker, 24 May 2010 pp.54–63.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/oct/11/tate-modern-sunflower-seeds-review
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/83598_Aiweiwei
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/83598_Aiweiwei
83598 Aiweiwei (provisional designation: 2001 SP265) is a main-belt minor planet. It was discovered by William Kwong Yu Yeung at the Desert Eagle Observatory near Benson, Arizona, on September 25, 2001. It is named after Ai Weiwei, a Chinese artist.
Template (2007) after collapse
