Ai Weiwei
Born
28 August 1957 (68)
Place of Birth
Beijing, China
Also known as
Ài Wèiwèi, Weiwei Ai
Biography
Ai Weiwei is a Chinese contemporary artist and activist. Ai grew up in the far north-west of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been openly critical of the Chinese Government's stance on democracy and human rights. He investigated government corruption and cover-ups, in particular the Sichuan schools corruption scandal following the collapse of schools in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. In 2011, Ai Weiwei was arrested at Beijing Capital In...
Ai Weiwei is a Chinese contemporary artist and activist. Ai grew up in the far north-west of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been openly critical of the Chinese Government's stance on democracy and human rights. He investigated government corruption and cover-ups, in particular the Sichuan schools corruption scandal following the collapse of schools in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. In 2011, Ai Weiwei was arrested at Beijing Capital International Airport on 3 April, for allegedly economic crimes. He was detained for 81 days without charge. Ai Weiwei emerged as a vital instigator in Chinese cultural development, an architect of Chinese modernism, and one of the nation's most vocal political commentators. Ai Weiwei encapsulates political conviction and his personal poetry in his many sculptures, photographs and public works. In doing this, he makes use of Chinese art forms to display the Chinese political and social issues. After being allowed to leave China in 2015, he has lived in Berlin, Germany, and, since 2019, in Cambridge, UK, with his family, working and traveling internationally.
Filmography (40)
Ai Weiwei's Turandot
2025
Animality
2025
🎬 Director
The Trainer
2024
Free to Create - Artists in Exile
2024
Clockwork Orange: The Prophecy
2023
Rohingya
2022
🎬 Director
Eric Ravilious: Drawn to War
2022
Ithaka
2022
Opera di Roma: Turandot
2022
🎬 Director
Cockroach
2020
CoroNation
2020
Vivos
2020
Vincent van Gogh Superstar
2019
Propaganda: The Art of Selling Lies
2019
Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly
2019
The Rest
2019
Why Are We Creative?
2018
Shouting Out
2018
🎬 Director
Ai Weiwei en Buenos Aires
2018
Human Flow
2017
The Chinese Lives of Uli Sigg
2017
Ai Weiwei Drifting
2017
江天勇律师
2017
🎬 Director
Heaven and Earth
2016
🎬 Director
Fukushima Art Project
2015
🎬 Director
Straight
2015
🎬 Director
Flowers of Taipei: Taiwan New Cinema
2014
Ai Weiwei - Evidence
2014
The Sand Storm
2014
You Know What I Mean
2014
🎬 Director
Ai Weiwei's Appeal ¥15,220,910.50
2014
Play of the Play
2014
🎬 Director
Stay Home
2013
🎬 Director
Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case
2013
Wenchuan Rebar
2013
🎬 Director
Ping'an Yueqing
2013
🎬 DirectorRemembrance
2012
🎬 Director
4851
2012
🎬 Director
Discard the Old Path of Closed Doors and Rigidity and Reject Evil Attempts to Change the Party's Banner
2012
🎬 Director
The Mala Desert
2012
🎬 Director