Petition to release Ai Weiwei
Dear AICA member:
The arrest of Ai Weiwei at the Beijing Capital Airport on April 3 is an assault on socially engaged artists everywhere. As a leading cultural figure of the 21st century, Ai Weiwei represents our collective duty to engage the world we live in and nurture art’s potential to affect openness and change. He has denounced corruption and injustice in China, defended the Sichuan earthquake victims and children killed in the collapse of schools, mothers of children killed by melamine-tainted milk, and historic sites subject to destruction by the blind greed of the economy. The current charge of "economic crimes" is a transparent fabrication, especially as the arrest comes in as one of hundreds of arrests of lawyers, activists and petitioners who have denounced injustice and corruption in the system and have expressed appreciation of the democratic movements in Middle East.
The international art community is calling for the immediate release of Ai Weiwei whose politically motivated arrest is in violation of his right to freedom of expression as guaranteed by Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which China is a signatory, as well as China’s own constitution. We urge you to join in these actions by signing the petition at here
Join the protest this Sunday at a Chinese Embassy or Consulate near you:
1001 Chairs for Ai Weiwei
Sunday, April 14, at 1 p.m.
AICA-USA, Political Affairs Committee
Link to Guggenheim homepage http://www.guggenheim.org
Carol Vogel’s New York Times online story here
Tate’s banner erected:
UPDATE: 4/19/20011
Friends,
My article about yesteday's demonstration in support of artist Ai Weiwei was published on KQED Arts today. Please have a look and, if you haven't already, sign the petition to release Weiwei at Change.org. I would like to see the widest possible distribution of this piece and would be happy to see it re-posted, if you have any suggestions.
http://www.kqed.org/arts/visualarts/article.jsp?essid=51058
Christian L. Frock presents Invisible Venue
Invisible Venue collaborates with artists to present art in unexpected settings.
m: 408.504.4460
www.invisiblevenue.com
May 10, 2011
Sam Jones
gaurdian.co.uk
Anish Kapoor calls for Ai Weiwei protest Sculptor wants museums and galleries to shut for a day and dedicates Paris commission to detained Chinese artist.
Anish Kapoor poses next to his installation in Paris, which he has dedicated Ai Weiwei. Photograph: Patrick Kovarik/AFP/Getty Images
The sculptor Anish Kapoor has called on the world's museums and galleries to close for a day in protest at the Chinese government's continued detention of the artist Ai Weiwei.
Ai was arrested by the Chinese police on 3 April in Beijing as he was about to board a flight for Hong Kong.
The 53-year-old artist has been accused of "suspected economic crimes" by the government and has not been seen or heard from since his arrest.
Kapoor – who has dedicated his installation at the Monumenta exhibition, which opens on Wednesday at Paris's Grand Palais, to Ai – told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that artists needed to look out for each other.
To read the rest of this article click here
May 19, 2011
From Artinfo.com
Ai Weiwei Unleashes Animals of the Zodiac on Central Park for His First Public Art Project
Courtesy the City of New York, AW Asia The menagerie of beasts in Ai Weiwei's "Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads"
One of China's most visible and outspoken contemporary artists,Ai Weiwei has had a fraught relationship with Chinese authorities,who placed him under house arrest last fall and demolished his studio. Last month, a Chinese online poll for "artist of the year" was scrapped by Sina.com when it became apparent that Ai was going to win by a landslide. Yet his international reputation has only grown stronger, especially after his extraordinary — if dusty — porcelain sunflower seeds filled the Tate Modern's Turbine Hall last fall.
Now, Ai Weiwei is sending his first major public art installation to the United States. The monumental piece, "Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads," will begin its travels in Central Park's Grand Army Plaza, in front of the Plaza Hotel, from May 2-July 15.
To read the rest of the article visit Artinfo.com