Ai Wei Wei Art Response

Ai Wei Wei is a  Chinese contemporary artist and activist. He uses his art to inform people about many of the problems within our society. For example, Ai Wei Wei, has created a series of pixelated artworks showing people who have been convicted by the government/state officials for expressing themselves by using their rights to speak freely.

Here are a couple of examples:

Zhu Yufu is also a Chinese activist. He was arrested in 2012 after being accused for "supervision and power" because he simply wrote a poem called, "It's Time". He wrote the poem urging the people of China to gather in support of freedom and take part in a pro-democracy protest. He was sentenced to seven years in prison for standing up against the government for what he believes in.

Shawo Tashi is a Tibetan singer who was arrested for "antistate activities including distributing photographs of self-immolation protesters; writing last notes left by self-immolation protesters on these photographs; participating in protest against Chinese government; and singing patriotic Tibetan songs." - Ai Wei Wei's Instagram. In 2013, he was sentenced to five years in prison for being the person who he is.