Aj Wej-wej
Biography
Aj Weiwei (Ai Weiwei) is a Chinese visual artist, architect, and civic activist. He was born into the family of poet Ai Qing, who was declared an enemy of the state shortly after Weiwei's birth and sent with the family to Xinjiang province. He lived there until 1976 when he was rehabilitated and returned to Beijing. There, Ai enrolled in the Beijing Film Academy, but shortly after the easing of social conditions in China in 1981, he went to New York, where he attended classes at the Art Students League of New York and studied at Parsons School of Design. He did not complete school, as he returned to Beijing in 1993 due to his father's serious illness. In Beijing, he transformed the local art scene with his artistic actions and provoked the Chinese government with his civic stance. In 2008, he initiated an investigation into the consequences of the earthquake in Sichuan, which resulted in a number of students dying in collapsed school buildings in rural areas. Ai Weiwei filmed a documentary and published lists of victims that the Chinese government had kept secret. A scandal erupted around the collapsed school buildings because corruption at the Ministry of Education had resulted in mandatory construction standards not being adhered to in earthquake-prone areas. In 2011, he was detained by Chinese authorities, beaten, and spent four years under house arrest before being granted permission to leave in 2015. Until 2018, he lived and worked in Berlin and then moved to Great Britain. In August 2018, Chinese authorities had Ai Weiwei's studio demolished without informing the artist.
Aj Weiwei (Ai Weiwei) is a Chinese visual artist, architect, and civic activist. He was born into the family of poet Ai Qing, who was declared an enemy of the state shortly after Weiwei's birth and sent with the family to Xinjiang province. He lived there until 1976 when he was rehabilitated and returned to Beijing. There, Ai enrolled in the Beijing Film Academy, but shortly after the easing of social conditions in China in 1981, he went to New York, where he attended classes at the Art Students League of New York and studied at Parsons School of Design. He did not complete school, as he returned to Beijing in 1993 due to his father's serious illness. In Beijing, he transformed the local art scene with his artistic actions and provoked the Chinese government with his civic stance. In 2008, he initiated an investigation into the consequences of the earthquake in Sichuan, which resulted in a number of students dying in collapsed school buildings in rural areas. Ai Weiwei filmed a documentary and published lists of victims that the Chinese government had kept secret. A scandal erupted around the collapsed school buildings because corruption at the Ministry of Education had resulted in mandatory construction standards not being adhered to in earthquake-prone areas. In 2011, he was detained by Chinese authorities, beaten, and spent four years under house arrest before being granted permission to leave in 2015. Until 2018, he lived and worked in Berlin and then moved to Great Britain. In August 2018, Chinese authorities had Ai Weiwei's studio demolished without informing the artist.
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