Ai Weiwei: Art, dissidence and resistance
dal 26/7/2011 al 26/7/2011
Segnalato da
26/7/2011
Ai Weiwei: Art, dissidence and resistance
Haus der Kunst, Munich
Panel discussion. The time might have come to rethink our political and diplomatic channels of communication
Panel discussion with Flora Sapio, Julius-Maximilians-University Wurzburg; Hou Hanru, San Francisco Art Institute; Gao Minglu, University of Pittsburgh; Shi Ming, Deutsche Welle TV; Ulrich Wilmes, Chief curator Haus der Kunst. Moderation: Okwui Enwezor, designated Director Haus der Kunst. While China's ministry of foreign affairs complains, that foreign news reports lack respect for the sovereignty of the Chinese judiciary, western countries want trials to meet the requirements of constitutional standards. Is it possible to build a bridge that overcomes such different positions? The panel will discuss the Ai Weiwei case as part of a comprehensive geopolitical development. Is the western art system, with its demand for universal freedom of speech, its international protests, calls on politicians and petitions asking for the release of defiant artists, a credible system? Did it not enter into a complicity with autocratic political systems years ago? And do events, such as the Sharjah Biennale, signify our silent tolerance of despotic rulers? Ai Weiwei was released on June 22, 2011. But even so, the time might have come to rethink our political and diplomatic channels of communication. (Photo R Ai Weiwei, 2006 Design Thomas Mayfried, 2009)