London Artists Rally Around Detained Weiwei

May 16, 2011 from Al Jazeera English

London's artistic community is hoping a show of solidarity will help bring the release of Ai Weiwei, the outspoken Chinese sculptor. Ai Weiwei, 53, is being investigated on suspicion of economic crimes, which his family has said are an unfounded excuse to silence his criticism of the government. Nadim Baba reports from London.

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Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei is a Chinese contemporary artist, active in sculpture, installation, architecture, curating, photography, film, and social, political and cultural criticism. Ai collaborated with Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron as the artistic consultant on the Beijing National S... Explore this topic

China

China, officially the People's Republic of China, is a sovereign state located in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population of over 1.35 billion. The PRC is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party, with its seat of government in the cap... Explore this topic

Artist

A visual artist is anyone (including people, animals, groups or companies) that has created a visual artwork. For more information, please see the Freebase wiki page on visual artist. Explore this topic

London

London is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom, and the largest city, urban zone and metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history g... Explore this topic

Chinese art

Chinese art is visual art that, whether ancient or modern, originated in or is practiced in China or by Chinese artists. The Chinese art in the Republic of China and that of overseas Chinese can also be considered part of Chinese art where it is based in or draws on Chinese he... Explore this topic

Anish Kapoor

Sir Anish Mikhail Kapoor, CBE, RA is an Indian-born British sculptor. Born in Mumbai, Kapoor has lived and worked in London since the early 1970s when he moved to study art, first at the Hornsey College of Art and later at the Chelsea School of Art and Design. He represented B... Explore this topic

Somerset House

Somerset House is a large Neoclassical building situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, England, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The building, originally the site of a Tudor palace, was designed by Sir William Chambers in 1776, a... Explore this topic

Tate Modern

Tate Modern is a modern art gallery located in London. It is Britain's national gallery of international modern art and forms part of the Tate group. It is the most-visited modern art gallery in the world, with around 4.7 million visitors per year. It is based in the former Ba... Explore this topic

Al Jazeera English

Al Jazeera English is an international 24-hour English-language news and current affairs TV channel headquartered in Doha, Qatar. It is the sister channel of the Arabic-language Al Jazeera. The station broadcasts news features and analysis, documentaries, live debates, current... Explore this topic

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Ai Weiwei Still On Hook for $2.5m After Chinese Court Rejects Appeal

Euronews | Sep 27

A court in China has rejected an appeal by the country's most famous dissident artist Ai Weiwei against a $2.5m fine for tax evasion. If he does no...