A Chinese artist and outspoken critic of the Chinese government living mostly in Berlin returned to China for an exhibition and was promptly arrested, and has now gone missing.
Ai Weiwei (pn "I way-way") has made a living as a contemporary artist who tackles controversial topics through paint and sculpture. He lived in China for many years, though he enjoyed a sizable fan base, and eventually a second home, in Berlin. He routinely made trips to China for rallies to support the release of intellectuals who'd been arrested.
His wife hasn't been able to see him, or even speak to him since his arrest. The arrest came at an awkward time for Chinese/German relations, as the German government has a large Enlightenment exhibition going in Beijing.
The irony isn't lost on some of the hand wringing German officials: an exhibition detailing the love of freedom above all coming at a time when an artist has lost his because of his art.
Some of that work is visible here.
This is the latest in an alarming wave of intellectual, artist, and dissident arrests that the Chinese government has made. Some in Germany have called for the government to bring the exhibition home, while others have called for an Ai Weiwei piece to be added. Neither of those things seem likely to be done.
Let's hope he's returned soon, or at least charged with some kind of crime using actual evidence against him.
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