Ai Weiwei Research Paper

Ai WeiWei was born in Beijing in 1957, just nine years before the Cultural Revolution began. Weiwei, amongst the millions of Chinese individuals who witnessed Mao Zedong and his desire to purge and destroy China’s history, lost faith in his government due to his experiences as a young person and continued to be displaced into his adulthood. His family were one of many destroyed and mistreated by the Chinese government, having been forced into a labour camp. Weiwei’s father cleaned toilets for 5 years, passing away due to complications most likely caused by the stress of the communist regimes of the time. in 1966, Mao called on the nation’s youth to drown out or destroy their history, the “impure” parts of Chinese society, as he believed this would bring back the revolution caused by the previous civil war. …show more content…
Ai Weiwei, now a symbol of struggle for human rights in China, was one in millions of Chinese people, imprisoned, suffering seizure of property, tortured and humiliated. After the deaths of 1.5 million people, China lost all beliefs and allegiance they once held to their government and this is expressed through Weiwei’s work. He resisted against all forms of control, capitalist and communist, and after it became legal to travel overseas as a Chinese citizen, Weiwei made his way to New York which would have been a completely different world to where he came from. According to him, China’s society “was all grey and a little bit blue”. Weiwei describes the streets as empty, “no private cars, only embassy cars. It was very slow, very quiet and very grey”. China’s government continues to control him and admits him to constant surveillance, forcing him into house arrest due to his activism and exposés. Weiwei’s freedom and family is still targeted and stalked by the government to this

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