{ Ai Weiwei }

This so-called contemporary art is not a form but a philosophy of the society.

– Ai Weiwei

Recently I visited Ai Weiwei's Exhibition, "According to what?" at Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan. I was excited about the exhibition when I first came to know about it while surfing Mori Art Museum's website. I felt extremely lucky that I was able to visit the exhibition during my stay in Japan as Ai Weiwei is one of China's most prominent and provocative artists around.

"According to what" brought much inspiration to me, making me realise how cultural rich China is. Not to forget, the numbers of talented Chinese artists around. I have to say Chinese are one of the world's most patriotic people. They love their country as if it's their lives. Maybe not for all Chinese, but certainly the case for Ai Weiwei. The exhibition showcased a numerous of art pieces with rich Chinese heritage and background, in the fusion of old-meet-new, east-meet- west concept.

If you are familiar with Ai Weiwei, he is renowned for his rising profile in the architecture world and of course, his contribution in the design of the Olympic National Stadium known as the Bird's Nest for the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing. And with his background on architectural, symmetrical forms and shapes are a common sight in his exhibition.

Needless for me to comment further, "A picture says a thousand words".....






About the Artist:

Photo credits: Aaron Deemer for The New York Times

(Taken from The New York Times)
Ai Weiwei is one of China's most prominent and provocative artists with a rising profile in the architecture world. Mr. Ai helped design the Olympic National Stadium known as the Bird's Nest for the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.

Known for his sharp tongue, Mr. Ai has been challenging the government to end what he calls its cover-up of incompetence in managing the response to an earthquake in May 2008 in Sichuan Province that killed more than 80,000 people. Defying Web censors in March 2009, he has created a sensation by posting angry commentaries about the quake rescue efforts on his popular blog. He not only criticizes the government's response but also chides officials for not yet providing a full accounting of schoolchildren's deaths, which he and many others attribute to poorly constructed schools.

The postings are unusual in that they have not yet been censored or removed from the Internet. Mr. Ai is being allowed to criticize the government sharply about a very delicate topic in Beijing.

Mr. Ai's father, Ai Qing, was perhaps the best-known poet of his generation, and among the most acclaimed Chinese literary figures of the 20th century. During the Cultural Revolution, Mr. Ai and his family were exiled from Beijing for nearly 20 years. The family lived in Xinjiang, a region in northwest China, and later further north in a quasi-military re-education camp on the edge of the Gobi Desert. They were allowed to return when Mr. Ai was 19; his father was exonerated in 1978.

Mr. Ai attended the Beijing Film Institute and later studied briefly at the Parsons School of Design and the Art Students League in New York. Returning to China, he restored the family name to prominence while producing sharply political artwork.

Mr. Ai, who is not new to controversy, is known for his avant-garde photographs and sculptures and for his blend of traditional Chinese elements and modern style.

For more read-up on Ai Weiwei, click the following links:
• Wikipedia
• Ai Weiwei's writeup on Beijing's Bird Nest Stadium and Olympics
• Fake
• Link #1