My meeting with Ai Weiwei in Beijing in the fall of 2010 was the starting point for our work on this exhibition. At the time Ai Weiwei had been under house arrest for a few days. He was calm but already then keenly aware of how precarious and unsafe his situation was. A lot has happened since then. In April 2011 Ai Weiwei was arrested on unclear charges and detained for three months in an undisclosed location. During the past year his situation has made him well-known far beyond the art world.
Ai Weiwei talks with curator Tessa Praun,
January 31, 2012.
For larger image, start the film and click on the symbol in the lower right corner of the video frame.
In connection with the exhibition Magasin 3 has organized a series of events in collaboration with ABF, Bio Rio, Goethe-Institut, Moderna Museet and Swedish PEN/Kulturhuset, Hotade ord. With the generous support of Kulturrådet and Svenska PostkodLotteriet. Special thanks to the Culture Without Borders Foundation.
All talks were filmed and can be seen here on this page. © Magasin 3. Films may not be reproduced without permission.
For more information, contact program coordinator Sara Källström, Curator Program & Education, kallstrom@magasin3.com, 08-545 680 52
Last year, Ai Weiwei dissapeared for 81 days.
Here is a timeline of the events from the organization Free Ai Weiwei.
Download Aram Bartholl’s Free Ai Weiwei-glasses here.
Submit a nude photo to the online project ‘Ai Wei Fans Nudity’ and show the Chinese government that nudity is not pornography.
We have just reached 13 000 followers! Thanks for all the support!
@xmlucia 嗯
@xmlucia 嗯
还要等 RT @PacoGoGoGo: @aiww @Junelight 嬸兒，還沒收到T恤呢，脖子都長了
呵呵。可以打给我呀 RT @wenyunchao 何杨：敬告国宝，不要再给我老婆打电话，这种侧面迂回对我没有用，此事已突破了我的底线，遂以网上公布。我接受强制措施，但不接受家庭骚扰。
奥 RT @iamhudi: 是想问他何时回到推上来的。 RT @aiww: 从哪回来了呀 RT @iamhudi: 何杨呢？几时回？ @aiww: RT @Suyutong: 天天回来了！RT @leewua99 原来的推号 @leewua 找不回来了， 请重新加我一下。谢谢！
Ai Weiwei recreating the conditions of his detention in China as part of an art project.
In June 2008, Yang Jia carried a knife, a hammer, a gas mask, pepper spray, gloves and Molotov coctails to the Zhabei Public Security Branch Bureau and killed six police officers, injuring another police officer and a guard. He was arrested on the scene, and was subsequently charged with intentional homicide. In the following six months, while Yang Jia was detained and trials were held, his mother has mysteriously disappeared.
One Recluse is a documentary that traces the reasons and motivations behind the tragedy and investigates into a trial process filled with shady cover-ups and questionable decisions. The film provides a glimpse into the realities of a government-controlled judicial system and it’s impact on the citizens’ lives.
Ordos 100 is a construction project curated by Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei. In January 2008, the 100 architects from 27 countries gathered in Ordos for a site visit. They were chosen to participate and design 100 000 square meter villas to be built in a new community in Inner Mongolia of China.
Ai Weiwei – Katie Hill Interview
Tate Modern
For larger image, start the film and click on the symbol in the lower right corner of the video frame.
Listen to personal accounts of encounters with or reflections about Ai Weiwei. Additional voices will be added to the archive throughout the exhibition.
“Voices about Ai Weiwei” created for Magasin 3 on the occasion of the exhibition with Ai Weiwei is produced by Tomas Rajnai, curator and student at Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts (Radio Production).
Meeting with Ai Qing – famous Chinese poet (1910-1996); Ai Weiwei’s father.
Sequence from KINA BERÄTTAR (China Tells)
Documentary by Lars Helander
© Sveriges Television 1988, 2012
Language: Chinese, Swedish
Subtitles: Swedish
For larger image, start the film and click on the symbol in the lower right corner of the video frame.
A reading of the names of schoolchildren who died in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Ai Weiwei and human rights activists investigated and criticized how officials handled information about the victims. It was suspected that corruption led to substandard building construction. The list of names of the students was first posted on Ai Weiwei¹s blog, but was repeatedly deleted in an act of internet censorship by the government.
Listen to the reading of names here:
Blogpost May 03 2011
Love the Future: Take to the Streets
A protester brought a “Grass Mud Horse” (a Chinese Internet meme widely used as symbolic defiance of the widespread Internet censorship in China) to the protest. “Grass Mud Horse” appeared many times in Ai Weiwei’s art creations.
Read the many diversified articles about Ai Weiwei at Designbooms webpage.
Haus der Kunst
On the occasion Ai Weiwei:
Art, Dissidence and Resistance
Panel Discussion
Haus Der Kunst, Munich, July 27, 2011
Journalist Anna Maria Höglund meets Ai Weiwei at his residence in Beijing.
During the half-hour interview Ai Weiwei talks about how he manages to be
both an artist and an activist, the catastrophic Sichuan earthquake in 2008
and how the image of modern Chinese society is a scam.
The filmed conversation between Tessa Praun and Ulrich Wilmes,
Bio Rio, February 21, 2012
Ladda ned vårens lärarmaterial här:
Lärarmaterial VT 2012
Ai Weiweis mångsidiga och omfattande konstnärskap både till innehåll och form ger många möjligheter att diskutera idéer och frågor som rör både konst och samhälle, form och material, samtid och historia. Ai Weiweis inspiration från konstnärer som haft en avgörande inverkan på utvecklingen av modern och samtida konst ger eleverna möjlighet att få en förståelse för några av de viktigaste begreppen inom modern, postmodern och samtida konst. Hans arbete bidrar också till idéer om hur sociala och politiska förhållanden på- verkar kulturell produktion. Ai Weiweis liv och arbete ger också ett intressant perspektiv på studiet av Kinas historia under 1900- och 2000-talet. Hans verk ställer även viktiga frågor om hanteringen av och värdet av kulturhistoriskt material och om de fortsatta effekterna för livet i dagens Kina av viktiga historiska händelser.
Ladda ned vårens lärarmaterial här:
Lärarmaterial VT 2012
Four years after designing the spectacular Bird’s Nest Olympic stadium in Beijing, the Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron and the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei are to reunite for a London 2012 project.
Ai Weiwei’s 10 years in East Village.
Person of the Year, Runner up. For 81 days last spring and summer, Ai Weiwei was China’s most famous missing person.
The branches are bare outside Ai Weiwei’s house this time of year, which leaves the police cameras bulging from the lampposts like overripe coconuts.
“Ai Weiwei absent”, organised by the Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM), wrapped up on 29 January 2012 after a three-month-long run. It was the artist’s first solo exhibition in the Chinese-speaking world and contained works dating from 1983 to 2011.
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AI WEIWEIS ARTISTRY
The conversation took place at Bio Rio in Stockholm, February 21, 2012. In English.
View the filmed conversation here:
For larger image, start the film and click on the symbol in the lower right corner of the video frame.
Ai Weiwei’s art is almost always based in cultural references, and he intentionally selects iconic objects with great cultural and symbolic value for the Chinese. In his work he combines the roles of artist, blogger and political acitvist.
As an introduction to Ai Weiwei’s artistry, Tessa Praun, curator at Magasin 3 for the Ai Weiwei exhibition, and Ulrich Wilmes, chief curator at Haus der Kunst, Munich, discuss works presented in the exhibition “So Sorry” at Haus der Kunst in 2009 and examin his visual expression, methodology and motivation.
AI WEIWEIS ARTISTRY
The conversation took place at Bio Rio in Stockholm, February 21, 2012. In English.
View the filmed conversation here:
For larger image, start the film and click on the symbol in the lower right corner of the video frame.
Ai Weiwei’s art is almost always based in cultural references, and he intentionally selects iconic objects with great cultural and symbolic value for the Chinese. In his work he combines the roles of artist, blogger and political acitvist.
As an introduction to Ai Weiwei’s artistry, Tessa Praun, curator at Magasin 3 for the Ai Weiwei exhibition, and Ulrich Wilmes, chief curator at Haus der Kunst, Munich, discuss works presented in the exhibition “So Sorry” at Haus der Kunst in 2009 and examin his visual expression, methodology and motivation.
Tessa Praun
Tessa Praun, photo: Christian Saltas
Tessa Praun, born in Stockholm 1977, is curator at Magasin 3 and for the exhibition with Ai Weiwei. Tessa has worked at Magasin 3 since 2004 and has done shows with, among others, Christian Boltanski, Annika von Hausswolff, Kimsooja, Miroslav Tichy & Julia Margaret Cameron, Marijke van Warmerdam and a number of exhibitions of works from the Magasin 3 collection, such as Thrice upon a time and Investigations of a Dog. She previously worked at Kunstverein Munich.
Ulrich Wilmes
Ulrich Wilmes and Ai Weiwei in Madrid 2009
Dr. Ulrich Wilmes, was born 1953 in Essen, Germany. Studied Art History and German Language and literature studies at the Ruhr-University in Bochum. He earned a PhD with a dissertation on “Rosso Fiorentino und der Manierismus“. 1985-87 he was intern at the Westfälisches Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte in Münster, collaborating on the exhibition ”Skulptur Projekte in Münster 1987”. 1988-91 curator at the Portikus Frankfurt am Main. 1991-2000 curator for contemporary art at the Lenbachhaus in Munich, since 1995 deputy director. 2000-08 deputy director of the Museum Ludwig in Cologne. Since 2008 he his chief curator at Haus der Kunst in Munich. Ulrich Wilmes has worked with numerous exhibitions and publications on international contemporary art, e.g. Dan Graham, Jörg Immendorff, On Kawara, Ellsworth Kelly, Per Kirkeby, Matt Mullican, Gerhard Richter, Ulrich Rückriem, Ed Ruscha, Lawrence Weiner.
THE POWER OF MICROBLOGS – WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF AI WEIWEI AND OTHER NET ACTIVISTS FOR FREEDOM OF SPEECH IN CHINA?
The conversation took place at Kulturhuset, Panoramascenen in Stockholm, March 13, 2012.
In English.
Magasin 3 in collaboration with Kulturhuset, Hotade ord and Swedish PEN.
View the filmed conversation here:
For larger image, start the film and click on the symbol in the lower right corner of the video frame.
The first part of the evening program is a discussion on social media’s role in the democratization of China. There the use of micro blog Weibo, Chinese equivalent of Twitter, is much more prevalent than in Sweden. What does that mean for a greater freedom of speech? What does the development in China look in comparison with, for example, the jasmine revolution in the Arab world?
The Swedish government currently supports net activists in repressive regimes with huge sums of money. In the second part of the evening the implications and how Sweden can act to support Chinese netizens and freedom of speech development are discussed.
THE POWER OF MICROBLOGS – WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF AI WEIWEI AND OTHER NET ACTIVISTS FOR FREEDOM OF SPEECH IN CHINA?
The conversation took place at Kulturhuset, Panoramascenen in Stockholm, March 13, 2012.
In English.
Magasin 3 in collaboration with Kulturhuset, Hotade ord and Swedish PEN.
View the filmed conversation here:
For larger image, start the film and click on the symbol in the lower right corner of the video frame.
The first part of the evening program is a discussion on social media’s role in the democratization of China. There the use of micro blog Weibo, Chinese equivalent of Twitter, is much more prevalent than in Sweden. What does that mean for a greater freedom of speech? What does the development in China look in comparison with, for example, the jasmine revolution in the Arab world?
The Swedish government currently supports net activists in repressive regimes with huge sums of money. In the second part of the evening the implications and how Sweden can act to support Chinese netizens and freedom of speech development are discussed.
Panel:
Michael Anti (Zhao Jing), Chinese journalist, blogger and net acitivist known for his posts about freedom of the press in China.
Marina Svensson, Sinologist and China expert at Lund University with a focus on human rights, justice and the Chinese media.
Christian Christensen, Professor at the Department of Media and Communication Studies at Uppsala University.
Moderator: Ulrika K. Engström, Swedish PEN and Enact consulting firm, where she works with sustainable strategies for business development with a focus on China and human rights.
Michael Anti
Michael Anti (a.k.a. ZHAO Jing) is a veteran journalist and popular political columnist for various of Chinese and English media outlets. He won M100 Sanssouci Media Award in 2011. He was a Chinese war reporter in Baghdad in March 2003 and then worked with Beijing Bureau of the New York Times for 4 years. His well-known MSN blog on Chinese politics was removed by Microsoft in December 2005 under the pressure of Chinese government. He also received Wolfson Press Fellowship at Cambridge University (2007), Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University (2008), and was a visiting scholar at University of Tokyo, invited by Japan Foundation in 2010. As a public advocate for Internet freedom and online public diplomacy, he is one of the most influence bloggers/microbloggers in China. He taught International Reporting at Journalism School of Shantou University 2008-2009. He served as International Jury Member for Blog Competition of Deutsch Welle in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2010.
Marina Svensson
Marina Svensson is an Associate Professor at the Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University. Her research focuses on human rights, legal issues and protests, the role of the media in society, as well as cultural heritage issues. Major publications include Debating Human Rights in China: A Conceptual and Political History (Rowman and Littlefield, 2002), and co-edited books such as and The Chinese Human Rights Reader (M. E. Sharpe, 2001); Gender Equality, Citizenship and Human Rights: Controversies and Challenges in China and the Nordic Countries (Routledge 2010); and Making Law Work: Chinese Laws in Context (Cornell University Press 2011).
Christian Christensen
Christian Christensen is Professor of Media and Communications Studies in the Department of Informatics and Media at Uppsala University, Sweden. Christian’s primary area of research is in the use of social media during times of war and conflict, but he has also published on the representation of Islam, post 9/11 documentary film and international journalism. Christian is the editor or co-editor of a number of books, including “Twitter Revolutions: Political Activism and Dissent in an Age of Social Media” (forthcoming 2012) and “Online Territories: Mediated Practice and Social Space” (2011), and has another edited book on WikiLeaks in progress.
Ulrika K Engström
Ulrika K Engström is on the board of Swedish PEN, where she is responsible for China issues. Previously she worked as a journalist for many years, particularly as China correspondent for the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, where she wrote about current affairs, human rights and freedom of expression. She is the author of the book The harmonious revolution – Rebels, Patriots and common Chinese people (Norstedts, 2008) and is a frequent China Expert on radio and television. Ulrika now works for Enact Sustainable Strategies, with leadership training and business development focusing on China and human rights.
FREEDOM OF SPEECH, DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS – CHINA IN RELATION TO THE REST OF THE WORLD
The conversation took place at ABF, Zetasalen, in Stockholm, March 27, 2012.
In English.
View the filmed conversation here:
For larger image, start the film and click on the symbol in the lower right corner of the video frame.
Ai Weiwei has devoted his life and art to the issues of freedom of speech, democracy and human rights in China. What significance do these issues have in China today, both historically and for the future? Although free speech is limited, the boundaries are extended by internet access, micro-blogs and lively internet debates between citizens about the Chinese leaders. Are these forces that Chinese authorities will struggle to contain? How should we in the West relate to a country that denies human rights while also providing a large part of our manufacturing industry? The panel will also discuss the relationship between the dissidents in China and those that live abroad.
FREEDOM OF SPEECH, DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS – CHINA IN RELATION TO THE REST OF THE WORLD
The conversation took place at ABF, Zetasalen, in Stockholm, March 27, 2012.
In English.
View the filmed conversation here:
For larger image, start the film and click on the symbol in the lower right corner of the video frame.
Ai Weiwei has devoted his life and art to the issues of freedom of speech, democracy and human rights in China. What significance do these issues have in China today, both historically and for the future? Although free speech is limited, the boundaries are extended by internet access, micro-blogs and lively internet debates between citizens about the Chinese leaders. Are these forces that Chinese authorities will struggle to contain? How should we in the West relate to a country that denies human rights while also providing a large part of our manufacturing industry? The panel will also discuss the relationship between the dissidents in China and those that live abroad.
Panel:
Börje Ljunggren, Swedish diplomat and expert on Asia, the former ambassador in China.
Andrew J. Nathan, Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science at Columbia University, New York, teaching and research on Chinese politics and human rights.
Malin Oud, sinologist with a focus on human rights and sustainable development.
Moderator: Dominic Ziegler, London-based Asia editor of The Economist and the magazine’s former China correspondent.
Börje Ljunggren
Börje Ljunggren was during the years 2002-06 Swedish Ambassador to China and Mongolia, ten years earlier Ambassador to Vietnam and the 1970′s aid chief in Laos and Bangladesh. He has been director of the Foreign Ministry’s and Sida’s Asia units. Parallel, Börje Ljunggren has engaged in research on Asia and a PhD in political science with a dissertation on the reforms in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. He is now the Foreign Ministry’s coordinator of the Stockholm China Forum, Chairman of SEB’s Asia advisory council, a member of the Board of Lund University and the Raoul Wallenberg Institute, advisor to the Sweden-China Trade Council, writer, lecturer, and tied to the China Center at the Stockholm School of Economics, Harvard University Asia Center and Nordic Institute of Asian Studies. In autumn 2009, a second edition of his acclaimed book “China – Contemporary Drama” was released. Börje Ljunggren, is perhaps the person in Sweden who has the broadest knowledge of developments in China and Asia.
Andrew J. Nathan
Andrew J. Nathan is Class of 1919 Professor of Political Science at Columbia University, New York. His teaching and research interests include Chinese politics and foreign policy, the comparative study of political participation and political culture, and human rights. He is engaged in longterm research and writing on Chinese foreign policy and on sources of political legitimacy in Asia, the latter research based on data from the Asian Barometer Survey, a multi-national collaborative survey research project active in eighteen countries in Asia. Nathan is chair of the administrative committee of the Institute for the Study of Human Rights and chair of the Morningside Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Columbia. He served as chair of the Department of Political Science, 2003-2006, chair of the Executive Committee of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, 2002-2003, and director of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, 1991-1995. Off campus, he is co-chair of the board, Human Rights in China, a member of the boards of Freedom House and of the National Endowment for Democracy, and a member of the Advisory Committee of Human Rights Watch, Asia, which he chaired, 1995-2000. He is a member of the steering committee of the Asian Barometer Surveys; the regular Asia and Pacific book reviewer for Foreign Affairs magazine; and a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Democracy, The China Quarterly, The Journal of Contemporary China, China Information, and others. He does frequent interviews for the print and electronic media, has advised on several film documentaries on China, has consulted for business and government. Andrew Nathan received his degrees from Harvard University: the B.A. in history, summa cum laude, in 1963; the M.A. in East Asian Regional Studies in 1965; and the Ph.D. in Political Science in 1971. He taught at the University of Michigan in 1970-71 and has been at Columbia University since 1971. He has published numerous books and articles on China and Chinese politics.
Malin Oud
Malin Oud is Founder of Track II, a consultancy specialised in dialogue and partnerships for human rights and sustainable development, with a focus on China. She previously worked at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in China for nine years in 2001-2009, and has also at worked at Sida in Stockholm and as a consultant to the UNDP and the OHCHR in China. Malin Oud has a Master in International Development from Melbourne University and a BA in Chinese language and Social Anthropology from Lund University. She studied international human rights law and Chinese law at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and is author of several reports and articles on food safety, freedom of expression and human rights education in China.
Dominic Ziegler
Dominic Ziegler has spent over two decades with The Economist, and is currently its Asia Editor, based in London. Before that, he was the inaugural writer of the Banyan column, launched in 2009. He has also served in Washington DC, Beijing and Tokyo.
AUTHORITARIAN REGIMES AND THE ARTS IN EUROPE OVER THE PAST 50 YEARS
The conversation took place at Goethe-Institut in Stockholm, April 26, 2012.
In English.
View the filmed conversation here:
For larger image, start the film and click on the symbol in the lower right corner of the video frame.
In 1989, when the people in Berlin celebrated the fall of the wall and the dissolution of many authoritarian regimes in Central and Eastern Europe, the people in China mourned hundreds of dead after the massacre on Tian’anmen Square. The two events cannot be fully understood without the artworks that were created after and before the events. But the artists did not only document the effects of the political and social change, many of them also played or occupied key roles in the creation of the new orders and societies, in particular those that can be characterised as dissident.
As part of the exhibition with works by Ai Weiwei, who is today China’s most outspoken dissident artist, the legendary gallerist Folker Skulima, the writer, director and performer Ivana Sajko, and the actor Samuel Finzi examine the roles of artists, bloggers, political activists and politicians in times of social change. They are joined by independent curator Berit Schuck in a conversation that revolves around contemporary concepts of art and activism in an effort to contribute to our understanding of the relationship between authoritarian regimes and the arts: What are the effects of conflicts on body and mind, but also on art itself?
Panel:
Samuel Finzi, Bulgarian/German theatre and film actor.
Folker Skulima, legendary Berlin gallerist, writer.
Ivana Sajko, writer, director and performer from Zagreb, Croatia.
Moderator: Berit Schuck, dramaturge and independent curator based in Berlin.
AUTHORITARIAN REGIMES AND THE ARTS IN EUROPE OVER THE PAST 50 YEARS
The conversation took place at Goethe-Institut in Stockholm, April 26, 2012.
In English.
View the filmed conversation here:
For larger image, start the film and click on the symbol in the lower right corner of the video frame.
In 1989, when the people in Berlin celebrated the fall of the wall and the dissolution of many authoritarian regimes in Central and Eastern Europe, the people in China mourned hundreds of dead after the massacre on Tian’anmen Square. The two events cannot be fully understood without the artworks that were created after and before the events. But the artists did not only document the effects of the political and social change, many of them also played or occupied key roles in the creation of the new orders and societies, in particular those that can be characterised as dissident.
As part of the exhibition with works by Ai Weiwei, who is today China’s most outspoken dissident artist, the legendary gallerist Folker Skulima, the writer, director and performer Ivana Sajko, and the actor Samuel Finzi examine the roles of artists, bloggers, political activists and politicians in times of social change. They are joined by independent curator Berit Schuck in a conversation that revolves around contemporary concepts of art and activism in an effort to contribute to our understanding of the relationship between authoritarian regimes and the arts: What are the effects of conflicts on body and mind, but also on art itself?
Panel:
Samuel Finzi, Bulgarian/German theatre and film actor.
Folker Skulima, legendary Berlin gallerist, writer.
Ivana Sajko, writer, director and performer from Zagreb, Croatia.
Moderator: Berit Schuck, dramaturge and independent curator based in Berlin.
Samuel Finzi
Photographer: Thomas Schweigert
Samuel Finzi, born in 1966 in Plovdiv (Bulgaria), is a film and theatre actor, who is best known for his expressive interpretation of character roles and his close working relationship with the Bulgarian director Dimiter Gotscheff. After his studies at Sofia’s State Academy of Theatre Samuel Finzi quickly became a movie star, playing in many Bulgarian films. In four of them he co-starred with his father, the renowned actor Itzhak Finzi, i.e. in “Az grafinyata” (tr: The Countess) and “Nemirnata ptitza lyubov” (tr: Love Is a Willful Bird). In 1989/1990 Finzi decided to leave Bulgaria and moved to Berlin, where he worked with Ivan Stanev. In 1993 he started to work with Dimiter Gotscheff and appeared in some of his most successful dramatic productions, i.e. “Die Möwe” (tr: The Seagull), “Woyzeck”, “Don Quixote” and “Das Pulverfass” (tr: The Powder Keg) and “Ivanov”. Finzi also worked with Werner Schroeter, Stefan Moskov, Jürgen Gosch, Benno Besson, Frank Castorf, Stefan Bachmann and Ivan Panteleev. He played at the theatres of Cologneeeeeeeee, Düsseldorf, Bochum, Hamburg, Vienna and Berlin (Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Deutsches Theater), but also appears in German television and film productions, i.e. by Oliver Hirschbiegel, Jan Schütte and Sönke Wortmann.
Folker Skulima
Photographer: Anonymous
Folker Skulima is a legendary gallerist and writer who has had a huge influence on the Berlin art scene. In the late 1960s he was one of the first gallerists, who opened a new space for the arts in the city. He collaborated with Andy Warhol and introduced environment artist Edward Kienholz as well as painter Cy Twombly or the conceptual artist Lawrence Weiner to the European art scene. He discovered Marcel Broodthaers (1970) and Gilbert and George (1970), Daniel Buren and Christian Boltanski (1970-71), Jannis Kounellis and Mario Merz (1971-72). In the late 1970s he discovered and supported the so-called new-expressionists “Neue Wilden”. He also always followed the discussions and debates around East-German artists like Werner Tübke and A.R. Penck. Among his many achievements is the founding of the ART FORUM and the transformation of the city into a place that attracts today international artists, curators, art dealers and gallerists alike. In the 1990s he sold his gallery to create time for curating and working on his collection. Folker Skulima lives in New York and Berlin.
Ivana Sajko
Photographer: Anonymous
Ivana Sajko, born 1975 in Zagreb (Croatia), is a writer, director and performer. She studied Dramaturgy at Academy of Drama Arts, after which she obtained M.Sc. in Humanistic science at Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb. She worked as editor on the TV-show V-EFFEKT, which was the first show on Croatian Television dedicated to contemporary performing issues. Since 1996 she is a member of editorial board of FRAKCIJA – Performing Arts Magazine. In 2000 she co-founded the theatre group BAD co. where she worked as dramaturge and director until 2005, when she started to perform as individual artist. She performs and directs her own plays with musicians, experimenting with interdisciplinary approaches to the problems of drama writing and performing. Her books include collection of plays Executed Faces (2001), trilogy of monologues Woman-bomb (2004), novel Rio bar (2005), theory book Towards the Madness (and Revolution) (2006), novel History of my family from 1941 till 1941, and beyond (2009) and collection of plays Trilogy on Disobedience (2012). In 2004. she published CD Mass for election day silence together with American composer David Simons. Some of her last plays were commissioned by Festival Steirischer Herbst Graz (Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose, 2008), Stadttheater Bern (Scenes with Apple, 2009) and Stadttheater Braunschweig (Landscape with the Fall, 2012).
Berit Schuck
Photographer: Mattias Horn
Berit Schuck, born in 1970 in Bremen, is a dramaturge and independent curator based in Berlin. She studied Comparative Literature, French, Theatre and Women’s Studies at the Free University Berlin, Université Paris VIII and Duke University NC/USA. From 2005-2008 she worked as dramaturge at Thalia Theater Halle in East Germany. From 2008-2010 she conceived, organised and directed interdisciplinary programmes, conferences and workshops worldwide, i.e. in Frankfurt, Berlin, Alexandria, Dubai, New York, Paris and Stockholm. In 2011 she was artistic director of the international festival “Heimspiel 2011” at Schauspiel Cologne and host resident curator at Ashkal Alwan in Beirut.
Reading Room
Fairytale T-shirts, 2007
Courtesy the artist; Leister Foundation, Switzerland; Erlenmeyer Stiftung, Switzerland; Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing-Lucerne
Fairytale, 2007
Video documentary, 2 hrs 32 mins
Courtesy the artist; Leister Foundation, Switzerland; Erlenmeyer Stiftung, Switzerland; Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing-Lucerne
Fairytale Dormitory (1 unit), 2007
Wood, steel, textile, plastic, bamboo
(10 beds for women) 200 x 781 x 545 cm
Courtesy the artist; Leister Foundation, Switzerland; Erlenmeyer Stiftung, Switzerland; Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing-Lucerne
Fairytale Dormitory (1 unit), 2007
Wood, steel, textile, plastic, bamboo
(10 beds for women) 200 x 781 x 545 cm
Courtesy the artist; Leister Foundation, Switzerland; Erlenmeyer Stiftung, Switzerland; Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing-Lucerne
Ai Weiwei attracted a lot of attention with his project Fairytale in Kassel in 2007. He invited 1001 Chinese people to travel with him to the German city in order to experience the international art event that takes place every five years, as well as to encounter another culture. Each participant received a special Fairytale suitcase and t-shirt, spending money and a memory stick in the form of a bracelet containing useful information for their stay.
A former warehouse on the outskirts of Kassel was converted into a dormitory that could accommodate 200 people at a time. Ai Weiwei redesigned the space using a system of drapes to divide it into small- er sections, each furnished with bamboo mats, beds and specially designed bedding. Next to every bed there was a curtain concealing an antique Chinese chair that the participants could use as a bedside table.
A section of the dormitory and its furnishings has been installed on the lower level of Magasin 3 together with a selection of photographic portraits of the participants, and the film documenting the project.
Fairytale People, 2007
C-prints, 100 x 100 cm
Courtesy the artist; Leister Foundation, Switzerland; Erlenmeyer Stiftung, Switzerland; Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing-Lucerne
Fairytale
World Map, 2006–2009
Cotton and wooden base 120 x 800 x 400 cm Faurschou Foundation
World Map, 2006–2009
Cotton and wooden base 120 x 800 x 400 cm Faurschou Foundation
“China is blindly producing for the demands of the market… My work very much relates to this blind production of things. I’m part of it, which is a bit of a nonsense.”
– Ai Weiwei
Although dealing with complex issues Ai Weiwei’s artworks are often beautifully simple in their visual expression. World Map is a three-dimensional work made of thousands of layers of thin cotton cloth. The map is created in a way that makes it extremely labor-intensive to install, illustrating China’s status as a platform for cheap labor in the clothing industry. The challenge lies in getting the thousands of pieces to fit together as perfectly as possible.
The work focuses on the individual as opposed to the masses, there- by also emphasizing the country’s leading roll in global trade. China is the world’s largest producer of cotton and a leading manufacturer of textiles and clothes. The difficulty of assembling the parts that make up the work also provokes thoughts regarding national and international unity.
Stool, 2008
Stools from the Qing Dynasty (1644 –1911) 68 x 38 x 65 cm
The Zagury Collection
Ghost Gu Coming Down the Mountain, 2005
Ai Weiwei & Serge Spitzer (1951, Romania)
Red and white porcelain, 96 vases, each 27 x 35 cm Faurschou Foundation
Chang’an Boulevard, 2004
Video, 10 hrs 13 mins
Courtesy the artist & Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing-Lucerne
Beijing 2003, 2003
October 18 – November 7
Video, 150 hrs
Courtesy the artist & Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing-Lucerne
Beijing: The Third Ring, 2005 January 1 – January 9
Video, 1 hr 50 mins
Beijing: The Second Ring, 2005 January 14 – February 11
Video, 1 hr 6 mins
Sunflower Seeds, 2009
Porcelain, 5 tons
Size varies depending on the installation Faurschou Foundation
Sunflower seeds, 2009
Porcelain, 5 tons
Size varies depending on the installation
Faurschou Foundation
A pile of sunflower seeds. A graphic black and white installation with seemingly identical seeds that we all recognize. However, on closer inspection, it becomes clear that the seeds are inedible and made of porcelain. Sunflower Seeds provokes thoughts regarding the ‘Made in China’ phenomenon and the mass production that permeates a large part of our society. In 2010 Ai Weiwei captured the imagination of the international art world when he filled the entire floor of the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern in London with many millions of these individually made sunflower seeds. The present work at Magasin 3 is a rendition of this installation, which exists in several different versions (500 kg, 5 tons, 10 tons).
China has a long history of producing porcelain of the highest quality. The city Jingdezhen in southeastern China is known the world over for its fine porcelain and was the court supplier for many centuries. Ai Weiwei turned to the town’s inhabitants and commissioned them to produce the sunflower seeds for his work using traditional methods. A total of 1600 people were actively engaged for two and a half years in making millions of sunflower seeds. Every porcelain seed was hand painted with the characteristic black and white pattern. The work is a commentary on China’s status in the world as synonymous with mass production, and Ai Weiwei emphasizes the individual as an essential part of the masses.
Download the complete exhibition folder here.
He filled Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall with sunflower seeds and campaigned against corruption. Then China’s most provocative artist disappeared. Hari Kunzu describes Ai Weiwei, the dissident artist, in The Guardian.
The more he is harassed by his government, the more Ai Weiwei becomes a symbol of activism in China. But how much longer can he continue to speak out? Tania Branigan speaks with Ai Weiwei in The Guardian.
What is daily life like for China’s most famous dissident artist? Since his nearly three-month detention last spring, Ai Weiwei has been heroized in the West. But in the People’s Republic, he remains curatorially untouchable, legally restricted to Beijing and embroiled in a $2.4 million “tax evasion” dispute. J.J. Camille visits Ai Weiwei at home.
As Ai Weiwei’s profile and the politicisation in his work has grown, it has become harder for him to live and work in China. In 2009 he underwent major surgery following a serious assault by police. William Oliver interviews Ai Weiwei in Dazed on the age of craziness.
The Chinese government slapped artist Ai Weiwei — one of China’s most famous dissidents — with a $2.4 million tax bill. The move was widely seen as punishment for Ai’s relentless criticism of the Communist Party. Since then, in an outpouring of support rarely seen for a government critic, thousands of people have loaned Ai nearly $1 million to help pay the fine. Frank Langfitt reports.
“I lost all connection with the outside world and was immersed in a world of darkness. I was scared that my existence would fade silently; no one knew where I was, and no one would ever know. I was just like a small soybean, once fallen to the ground, it rolls into a crack in the corner. Being unable to make any sounds, it will forever be forgotten.” By Veronica Wong and Gisela Sommer report on Ai Weiweis mental torment in captivity.
For months Ai Weiwei, who was detained by Chinese authorities in the spring and released under close surveillance in June, has been limited in his travel and communications with the outside world. But recently he was able to escape, at least digitally, and even to make new work in another country. Malena Ryzik explains how in The New York Times.
“I see what kind of hopes, what kind of worries, what kind of frustrations… and waiting, and anticipating… then the dream, then imagination, then… maybe surprise. This of course reflects a great number of social, political and economic factors, because we often have to ask who we are.” Nataline Colonnello speaks with Ai Weiwei about the Fairytale project at Documenta 12 in Kassel 2007.
In a gritty industrial space in the city’s Chai Wan district, 50 Hong Kong artists are speaking out against Ai’s detention in a non-selling exhibition called “Love the Future.” In Mandarin, it reads as “Ai Wei Lai,” a pun on “Ai Wei Wei” and a code name used by the artist’s online supporters when he first went missing. Kristie Lu Stout reports.
If you’re not one of his 110,000 Twitter followers, you may never have heard of Ai Weiwei. But the architect who designed the Bird’s Nest stadium for the Beijing Olympics in 2008 has become one of China’s most noted political dissidents and online activists. By John D. Sutter for CNN.
Ai Weiwei describes the interconnectedness of his work and his activism, saying, “An individual who makes an effort can make an impact.” This was not Ai Weiwei’s conclusion, but his invitation. Christian L. Frock on Secondary Protest Strategies.
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry is the inside story of a dissident for the digital age who inspires global audiences and blurs the boundaries of art and politics. Director Alison Klayman gained unprecedented access to Ai while working as a journalist in China. Her detailed portrait provides a nuanced exploration of contemporary China and one of its most compelling public figures.
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Magasin 3
Stockholm Konsthall
Frihamnsgatan 28
115 56 Stockholm
T: + 46 8 545 680 40
art@magasin3.com
Thursdays
11am – 7pm
Fridays—Sundays
11am – 5pm
Entrance fee
60 SEK / 40 SEK (for students and pensioners)
Free admission for those under 20 years.
Includes a season pass valid for the entire exhibition season.
Dear visitor,
This year marks 25 years since the founding of Magasin 3 – an achievement of which we are incredibly proud. We have introduced a long list of artists to the Scandinavian art scene and our thorough solo exhibitions have become something of a hallmark of the institution.
Magasin 3 keeps a short ‘wish list’ for future exhibitions and Ai Weiwei’s name has been on it. We have followed his artistic development closely, captivated by his strength, versatility, originality, and not least by his irrepressible courage. At last we are bringing his work to Sweden to give our visitors, many of whom have followed us faithfully, the opportunity to experience Ai Weiwei’s greatness. Much has happened in Ai Weiwei’s life during the past few years, most markedly his escalating conflict with the Chinese regime, which perceives his very existence as a threat to the nation. Under such difficult conditions it is not easy for anyone to stay focused and continue practicing one’s profession, and Ai Weiwei is no exception. In the past year he has spent much of his time just surviving, and attempting to counter the false allegations directed against him. This persistence has made him an international symbol for human rights. Because his creativity is totally without compromise, he attains new ideas and visual expressions that carry a universal importance and transcend all boundaries.
We are grateful for the wholehearted support we received during the preparation of the exhibition from Ai Weiwei and a number of his most loyal co-workers at his studio FAKE Design in Beijing, as well as our friends at the Faurschou Foundation and Galerie Urs Meile.
Welcome!
David Neuman
Museum Director Magasin 3
New for this spring in Magasin 3’s café is that the popular Jin & Peeters Deli is represented.
We offer delicious homemade soups with seasonal ingredients, fresh salads and sandwiches as well as sweet home-baked treats, Belgian waffles and ice cream. To the delight of our younger visitors the homemade ice cream can also be ordered with pancakes. In addition, Haugaard Coffee Roaster has created an exclusive espresso blend for Magasin 3 this spring.
Welcome to the heart of Magasin 3’s lobby: the café!
The café has the same opening hours as the rest of Magasin 3.
Since its establishment in 2010 Jin & Peeters Dumpling and Chicken Deli has become a much-talked about favorite on Kungsholmen, Stockholm.
PRECONDITIONS FOR CONTEMPORARY ART IN CHINA
The conversation took place at Moderna Museet, Stockholm, May 8, 2012.
In English.
View the filmed conversation here:
For larger image, start the film and click on the symbol in the lower right corner of the video frame.
The panel discuss the following questions:
What is unique for the Chinese contemporary art scene? What makes it different from the West? The relationship individual / collective – it is possible to “read” that in the art? The personnel resources that exist in connection with the creation of art in China – it is a strength or a weakness? Can art be free in a non-democracy?
Panel:
Lars Nittve, Executive Director of M+, Hong Kong.
Jérôme Sans, international curator and Director of Creation and Chief Editor of the magazine L’Officiel Art. Former director of Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing.
Uli Sigg, significant collector of contemporary Chinese art.
Karen Smith, writer, critic and curator based in Beijing.
Moderator: David Neuman, founding director of Magasin 3, Stockholm, and affiliated professor at Stockholm University.
PRECONDITIONS FOR CONTEMPORARY ART IN CHINA
The conversation took place at Moderna Museet, Stockholm, May 8, 2012.
In English.
View the filmed conversation here:
For larger image, start the film and click on the symbol in the lower right corner of the video frame.
The panel discuss the following questions:
What is unique for the Chinese contemporary art scene? What makes it different from the West? The relationship individual / collective – it is possible to “read” that in the art? The personnel resources that exist in connection with the creation of art in China – it is a strength or a weakness? Can art be free in a non-democracy?
Panel:
Lars Nittve, Executive Director of M+, Hong Kong.
Jérôme Sans, international curator and Director of Creation and Chief Editor of the magazine L’Officiel Art. Former director of Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing.
Uli Sigg, significant collector of contemporary Chinese art.
Karen Smith, writer, critic and curator based in Beijing.
Moderator: David Neuman, founding director of Magasin 3, Stockholm, and affiliated professor at Stockholm University.
Lars Nittve
Lars Nittve was born in Stockholm in 1953. After studies at the Stockholm School of Economics and a M.A. at Stockholm University he served as lecturer in art history at the University of Stockholm during the period 1978-85. During the same period he held a post as Senior Art Critic at the daily Svenska Dagbladet, Stockholm, and contributed regularly to Artforum magazine, New York. In 1986 Nittve was appointed Chief curator at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, where he curated a large number of high profile exhibitions – among them Walter De Maria, Kandinsky in Sweden, Hilma af Klint and the seminal Implosion – a Postmodern Perspective. 1990-95 he served as founding Director of Rooseum – Center for Contemporary Art – in Malmö, Sweden. In 1995, Nittve became Director of the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebaek, Denmark, where he also curated the exhibition Sunshine & Noir – Art in L.A. 1960-1997. In the spring of 1998, he was named the first Director of Tate Modern, London, which opened in May 2000.
In 2001, he took up his post as Director of Moderna Museet in Stockholm where he also, in 2004 co-curated the thematic exhibition Fashination about the dialogue between art and fashion, and Time and Place: Los Angeles 1957-1968 (2008); Antony McCall (2009) and Ed Ruscha: Fifty Years of Painting (2010). During his time at the Moderna Museet he initiated a campaign for strengthening the collection – including The Second Museum of Our Wishes, which focuses on bringing more works by women artists into the collection and raising 70 million USD. The creation of the Renzo Piano designed Pontus Hultén Study Gallery, The American Friends of the Moderna Museet Inc. and the Moderna Museet Malmö, opened in 2009.
Lars Nittve has served on the jury of numerous international prizes and been on the board of large number of international art organizations. He is the author of several books on art, as well as articles in journals and catalogues in Sweden and abroad. In 2009 he was awarded a Ph.D. H.C by Umeå University, Sweden, where he also since 2010 is Professor in Art History. He is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Art. In the end of 2010 Lars Nittve left his post as Director of the Moderna Museet. Since January 2011 he is the Executive Director of M+, the future innovative museum of visual culture in the West Kowloon District in Hong Kong.
Jérôme Sans
Jérôme Sans is an internationally renowned curator, cultural agitator and pioneer. Jérôme Sans, former director of the ground breaking Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing and co-founder and founding director of the acclaimed Palais de Tokyo, Paris. Currently he is the Director of Creation and Chief Editor of the magazine L’Officiel Art.
Uli Sigg
Uli Sigg, born 1946, grew up in Switzerland. He completed his studies with a Ph.D. of the University of Zurich’s Law Faculty. He then worked as journalist and editor for various Swiss newspapers and magazines. From 1977 to 1990 he joined the Schindler Group where he held positions as Area Manager for Asia Pacific and later Member of the Group Executive Committee and Shareholders Board. In 1980 he established the first joint venture between China and the West and remained its Vice Chairman for ten years. He then served on the boards of a number of global companies until 1995 when the Swiss federal government appointed him the ambassador to China, North Korea and Mongolia for four years. Upon his return to Switzerland he re-assumed the chairmanship or board membership of several multinational companies such as Ringier Media Group, Vitra Design Co. Infront Sports and advisor to Herzog De Meuron architects. Presently he also serves as member of the Advisory Board of China Development Bank and other Chinese entities. Altogether he spent many years in China, following the opening up of China and its contemporary art scene from day one, and he has formed a substantial collection of contemporary Chinese art with over 2000 works. In 1997 he established the Chinese Contemporary Art Award (CCAA), an art award for Chinese contemporary artists living in China, and, in 2007, the CCAA Art Critic Award. He is a member of the International Council of New York MoMA and International Advisory Council of Tate Modern, London. Works from the Sigg Collection will next be exhibited in National Portray Gallery, Canberra, September 2012.
Karen Smith
Karen Smith moved from England to Beijing in 1992. Since that time she has become known as a writer, critic and curator, specializing in China’s new art; contemporary practice in the post-Mao era. In January 2006, she published Nine Lives: The Birth of Avant-Garde Art in New China (Scalo, Zurich; updated edition Timezone 8, Beijing, August 2008). She has written widely on photography, including The Chinese; Photography and Video Art from China, pub. Kunstmuseum Wolfsberg 2004, Reinterpretations: A Decade of Experimental Art in China, for Guangzhou Triennial, 2002, China Portrait of a Country, pub. Taschen, 2008; Chen Man, a monograph on China’s leading fashion photographer, pub. 3030 Press. Other books include a monograph titled Ai Weiwei for Phaidon Contemporary Artist Series, and Bang to Boom: Chinese Art in the 1990s.
Her curatorial work includes The Real Thing at Tate Liverpool, 2007, as well as museum projects including the Watarium, Tokyo (Crack in the Continent, 1997), Kunstmuseum Wolfsberg, Germany (The Chinese, 2004), and Queen’s Museum, New York (Yue Minjun solo show, 2007). Work with arts organizations and galleries include Revolutionary Capitals: Beijing in London, ICA, 1999, Illumination; Ai Weiwei and Tibetan Plateau, Beijing Girls: Liu Xiaodong both at Mary Boone Gallery 2008. Recent exhibitions include Subtlety, at Platform China Beijing 2008, China Portrait of a Country (December 2008); Music to My Eyes (April 2009); Hive (April 2011): Penetrate: Shi Jinsong Solo Exhibition (May 2011) all at Today Art Museum, Beijing. Karen’s latest book As Seen: Seminal Works by Chinese Artists is out May 2012.
Moderator: David Neuman
David Neuman is one of the founders and the director of Magasin 3. After 25 years the institution has evolved into one of Europe’s leading venues for contemporary art and with it’s collection created a major art museum.
During his years at Magasin 3 David Neuman has created a number of important exhibitions of artists like Bruce Nauman, Agnes Martin, Fred Sandback, and also the Swedish artists Annika von Hausswolff and Lars Nilsson. David Neuman is affiliated professor at Stockholm University’s education for aspiring curators.