Ai Weiwei Forced into disappearing

Dear friends,

Some of you might remember my post on Chinese artist Ai Weiwei and his Sunflower Seeds (7/1/11).

Ai Weiwei, Sunflower Seeds, Tate Modern, London

On the 4^th of April Ai Weiwei  was arrested and “forced into disappearing “. Whilst the Chinese authorities claim to be investigating the artist for “economic crimes”, it is more that it was Weiwei opposition to the Chinese government that got him in trouble.

Ai Weiwei has always been very outspoken on the lack of human rights, has publicly declared he had lost hope in his government and has invited young Chinese to learn English and emigrate. Weiwei has in many cases been  a source of embarrassment for China's intolerant policies.

In the last few weeks China has seen an increase of forced vanishings and arbitrary detentions against uncooperative Chinese members of the public. The international community believes the surge in censorship and detentions the Chines reaction to the political uprisings in Northern Africa and the Middle East.

From where I stand and given the limited information I am fed in my household it is very difficult to grasp all the nuances and the intricacies revolving around International Policy, Human Rights and Contemporary Arts but few things I know:

-       Freedom of speech is a value recognised by the whole of the international community.

-       Censorship is NOT an element of democracy. You can only either claim to be democratic or enforce involuntary disapperences…but for some reason you won’t be able to pull both off a the same time.

-       Human rights have never fully inhabited China. It is hypocritical of Western Countries to conveniently forget this whilst negotiating economic deals... only to remember about China’s human rights (or more the lack of them) whenever an international “high profile” case like the Aiweiwei one breaks out.


Read more about this at  Free Ai Weiwei  or sign a petition Free Ai Weiwei .

We should all bother!!!!!!!!