Ai Weiwei on his family's multi-generational fight against authoritarianism
Art has a spirit that leads to liberation, says contemporary artist
Originally published on Nov. 9, 2021.
Contemporary artist Ai Weiwei says he and his late father, the poet Ai Qing, have challenged authoritarianism through their art — something that put both men at odds with Chinese authorities.
"We almost have [committed the] same kind of crime, subversion of state power," he told The Current's Matt Galloway.
Both Weiwei and his father used their art to comment on political and social issues in China, such as criticizing the country's strict censorship laws. Weiwei said neither he nor his father tried to "suppress state power," but rather offered "different opinions" about how it should be used.
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For that, he said he and his father paid a price for their work, including exile, being put under house arrest, and facing jail time. He details China's influence on his and his father's lives in his new memoir, 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows.
Silenced by authority
Weiwei said his father was initially drawn to China's Communist Party, which headed the People's Republic of China from 1949 onwards. But he said the country's strict censorship laws didn't mesh well with Qing's political views, or his belief that a democratic political system was necessary to liberate the human mind.
In 1957, Qing was accused of being a rightist: someone who favoured capitalism over collectivization. He was exiled to work on farmland in northeast China — and banned from writing for 20 years.
"He was totally silenced," Weiwei said.
Weiwei remembers growing up on those farms, and later Xinjiang in northwest China, where his father was transferred. He said his family had to live in a hole underground because they weren't even provided a house.
"The situation's pretty harsh," he said. "We basically had very limited food … and daily, he had to face personal insults."
On top of those conditions, Qing was forced to clean the communal toilets for his village on a daily basis, which was a demanding job for someone in his 50s, and later his 60s.
"He was a writer; [he] never [did] this kind of physical work," Weiwei said. "He cannot really rest for one day because the job will be doubled the next day."
Weiwei said this was a way for China to try to make Qing disappear. These tactics, according to Weiwei, drove some people to even commit suicide — but not his father.
"I really, really admire him. Very strong heart and mind, and he was doing a perfect job as someone doing those very insulting works," he said.
No fear
In 1989 — 40 years after the Chinese Communist Revolution — Chinese citizens again took it upon themselves to hope for a better China.
Starting on April 15, tens of thousands of Chinese students flocked to cities and landmarks like Tiananmen Square to demand democracy, freedom of speech and freedom of press.
Weiwei, then living in New York, remembers watching the scenes unfold on TV.
"It's [the] first time you have some hope for China. You think, 'Wow, the students can really clearly announce they want more democracy,'" he said. "But that doesn't [last] for very long."
As the protests developed, Chinese authorities responded by strengthening police and security forces, widespread arrests, and strict censorship of the events in the domestic press.
By the time the protests died out in June 1989, it was estimated that hundreds to thousands of citizens and soldiers had been killed.
Weiwei eventually returned to China in 1993, a few years after the Tiananmen Square protests. His return was in part sparked by his ailing father, who died a few years later 1996.
In China, Weiwei started creating art pieces that commented on social issues in China — art that even caught the eyes of the authorities.
One such piece was his Accidental Dropping. In a series of photographs, Weiwei is shown dropping a Han Dynasty vase on the ground. The piece is a commentary on how people were not properly preserving or learning about Chinese history as a whole.
Weiwei's exploits eventually led to him being surveilled in his own home by government officials. He also believes his work contributed to his own arrest in 2011.
"When we [went] through the border security, me and my assistant [were] separated, and I was being [led] to … a secret area," he said.
Chinese officials said the official reason for Weiwei's arrest was that he was "under investigation on suspicion of economic crimes."
Weiwei said he faced psychological torture during an 81-day detention.
"I cannot sleep at night time because a light is always on and two soldiers [were] standing next to me when you lay on bed and look at you," he said.
Despite this, Weiwei said he never lived in fear.
"I never knew fear," he said. "I know they're approaching me, I know that anything can happen to me at any moment, but I don't worry about a sense of either fear or danger."
'Art is liberation'
One lesson Weiwei has taken from these experiences is the power of art. He believes authoritarians fear artists because their work isn't just about colours on a palette or words on a page; it's about freedom.
"Art has this kind of spirit directly leading to liberation," he said. "It breaks through all kinds of boundaries [and] borders and controlled territories."
Weiwei sees that spirit in his work and his father's. He thinks it's something that has shaped their legacies.
"For someone who has my growing-up experience, to understand what my father has been feeling … that memory made me still have unfinished business with China, with authority and with the culture," he said.
"So I take that opportunity to speak out about almost every issue. And yeah, that made me become today's Ai Weiwei."
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Written by Mouhamad Rachini. Produced by Howard Goldenthal.
