Artist Ai Weiwei, whose scale model recreations of his 2011 incarceration at this year’s Venice Biennale won him critical accolades, has spoken on his ordeal in a recent interview with Salon.  Recounting his experiences with his interrogators, Weiwei recounts conversations in which he began to teach his captors about conceptual art, Dadaism and protest.   “I explained art to them and then many times they said to me, ‘Weiwei, why whenever we talk about art and concepts do you get so excited that you keep talking? And why when we talk about facts, you say, ‘I don’t know’?’ But I say, ‘You know, I like to talk about art, and it makes me joyful and when I get to talk about art and explain I get very high spirits.’”  He says.

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Youssef Abdelke, a notable Syrian painter who has repeatedly spoken out against the Assad regime in his home country, has been released from a two month-long imprisonment by government authorities.  The 62 year old artist and former Syrian Communist Party Member had previously posted on his Facebook page that he “is healthy and in anticipation of leaving the palace of justice, free as [he] has always been.” (more…)

Ai Weiwei, S.A.C.R.E.D. (Installation View inside steel diorama) (2013)

Since his 2011 detention for alleged tax evasion by the Chinese government, artist and political dissident Ai Weiwei has taken the world by storm, with exhibitions and retrospectives around the world, alongside documentary profiles, constant press coverage, and a notably enigmatic heavy metal album.  His ubiquity in the artworld, set in contrast to his physical restriction from leaving China, is clear, and consistent at the 55th Venice Biennale, where the artist is holding two separate solo installations.

Ai Weiwei, S.A.C.R.E.D. (Installation View) (2013)

Ai Weiwei, Straight (Installation View) (2008-2012) (more…)

Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei has been invited by Creative Time Reports to publish his thoughts on the role of writing as criticism in the face of authoritarian censorship.  The artist, who was detained by the government last year, calls on internet users in China and abroad to use the system to oppose oppression by speaking out.  He writes: “Every day we put the state on trial—a moral trial, conducted with logic and reasoning. Nothing could be better than this. I am preparing a budding civil society to imagine change. First, you need people to recognize they need change. Then you need them to recognize how to make change. Finally, change will come.” (more…)

Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei will create a new installation this summer along the Emscher River in Germany’s Ruhr Region for the Emscherkunst triennial arts festival.  The artist plans to erect 1,000 small tents along the river, allowing festival-goers to stay in the tents for a small fee.  “The idea is to let normal people participate” says festival curator Florian Matzner. (more…)