Ai Weiwei, who created Tate Modern’s Sunflower Seeds, the most famous Chinese avant-garde artist and architect of the stadium of Olimpic Games in Beijing, outspoken government critic now in police custody after he was barred from boarding a flight at a Beijing airport.
Human rights groups as well as the U.S., Britain and the European Union delegation in Beijing are leading calls for the release of Ai Weiwei.
“I appeal to the Chinese government to urgently provide clarification, and I expect Ai Weiwei to be released immediately,” the German foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, said in a statement.
Ai’s wife, Lu Qing, told the Associated Press that police had given no indication of her husband’s whereabouts or why he was being held.
“They asked me about Ai Weiwei’s work and the articles he posted online … I told them that everything that Ai did was very public, and if they wanted to know his opinions and work they could just look at the internet,” she said.
VIA | Guardian
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