How Ai Weiwei Uses Artwork to Showcase his Political Views
Ai Weiwei is a Chinese contemporary artist known for using different mediums in his artwork to showcase his political views and to shine a light on human rights violations. He uses sculptures, photographs, and random objects from everyday life in his art pieces to express his political opinions. Weiwei is not just an artist but also a documentarian and activist, standing against political and social injustices. He is a bold artist who doesn’t shy away from the truth in his artwork, which makes him an exceptional artist.
Early life of Weiwei
Ai Weiwei was born in Beijing in 1957 to Ai Qing, a well-known poet, during the Maoist regime. Mao was known to be a ruthless leader who created the Cultural Revolution, which called for the purge of capitalistic influence in Chinese society, where many individuals lost their lives due to the oppressive government. At just the age of one, Weiwei’s family and he experienced political oppression as his father was outspokenly against the government, which caused the whole family to be exiled to a labour camp and then exiled again to Shihézi, where they lived in terrible conditions. Weiwei’s family were allowed to return to Beijing in 1976 after Mao’s death. He then enrolled in the Beijing Film Academy in 1978 because he was interested in the arts, but then moved to the USA to escape the restrictions of the Chinese society, as he believed China was less open to hearing different viewpoints. In Weiwei’s terms, “China and the U.S. are two societies with very different attitudes towards opinion and criticism”. Weiwei believed that moving to the USA, he would be able to express himself freely. He studied art in the USA and found himself interested in Western modernism and conceptual art.
Rise to fame
Ai Weiwei began to rise to fame shortly after returning to Beijing. He released his art piece ‘Dropping a Han Dystany’, where he photographs himself dropping the han dystany urn in three parts. In the first image, you can see Weiwei holding the urn; in the second image, he lets go of the urn, and in the final image, the urn hits the ground as it’s shown smashed into pieces. There was a negative reception towards this art piece, as the majority of the Chinese public found it disrespectful to Chinese culture. Weiwei responded to the criticism by saying, “Chairman Mao used to tell us that we can only build a new world if we destroy the old one”. Mao, who plays a central role in China’s political identity, was in favour of erasing Chinese culture during the Cultural Revolution. Weiwei said that quote to point out the contradiction of Chinese cultural identity and political identity, as the Han dynasty urn went against Mao’s teachings. Weiwei grew famous after this artwork, especially in the West; however, in China, he is seen as a controversial artist, as many of his artworks critique the Chinese government, and many feel as if he is ruining China’s image by doing that.
Ai Weiwei is the most important artist in current times, due to the fact that he uses his art as a form of activism to challenge those in power. His activism most definitely came from his upbringing, since he experienced living in harsh conditions due to his father’s criticism of the government. You should witness Ai Weiwei’s artwork in a gallery, as his art encourages you to think about the political and social state of the world.