The Frontline video I showed in class as my issue was about Ai WeiWei and the oppression from the Chinese government. I think that video did a remarkable job of showing exactly what has happened to him every step of the way. I think that for an artist like Ai WeiWei a video is so much more powerful because not only can you see the work he has done and the magnitude of it but you can see first had the persecution he is being subjected to simply because he is speaking out. In situations like this one the emotional side of the subject is so powerful just seeing him being followed, beaten, and the efforts he went through to support the people of his country without a voice. The video gave a background of his art work and how he helped design the birds nest stadium for the Olympics in Beijing but as soon as he realized the Olympics just seemed to support communism and were a band aid for all the problems their country was experiencing he dropped out. It showed how revolutionary he is in China with his blog, twitter, and other means of reaching and empowering the public. When there was an earth quake in Sichuan where many people died, including a lot of school children, due to poor government construction of buildings it really drew the attention of Ai WeiWei. The government wouldn’t release any of the names of people that died in the accident and were trying to silence what was happening in that part of the country. Ai WeiWei didn’t think that was right and got inspired by it and through his blog he collected almost all the names of people that died creating a piece of art out of that and another with backpacks in honor of the school children. When he was beaten by the police in his hotel room in Shanghai that really spoke to me as such a violation of human rights, the sight was so out of the norm for our society and reminded me that these people truly have no one to turn to that has their best interest in mind. Although Ai WeiWei attempts to be a person that does he is just one person and even he faces the same persecution as everyone else. When his studio was bulldozed by the government it really took me by surprise because although the government is very harsh in China Ai WeiWei is still a public figure who is known worldwide. The government isn’t scared of people knowing just what they are doing and the lengths they are willing to take to silence just one person. China is basically letting the world know they are in violation of the human rights guidelines and they couldn’t care less. It makes me question that although these things are in place there is no one to really enforce the rules that every person should be given simple for being. Ai WeiWei attempts to always be the voice for people that don’t have one. What spoke to me a lot in the video was when someone said most artists and people with in the spotlight would never give up their lifestyle to speak out against what is right but Ai WeiWei would and that sets him apart and makes him a true proponent of human rights, even if his life is being threatened by the lack of human rights in his country.
No comments:
Post a Comment