Ai Weiwei

Born in 1957, Ai Weiei is a contemporary artist and political activist from Beijing, China. Weiwei lived and studied in the United States at Parsons School of Design and the Art Students League of New York from 1981 to 1993. He then returned to China and helped establish "Beijing East Village", a community of experimental artists, and published a series of books concerning their work. He is the Artistic Director of China Art Archives & Warehouse (CAAW) and founder of the architecture studio FAKE Design. As a controversial political artist, he was named one of the Power 100 by ArtReview Magazine and was a runner-up for Time Magazine's Person of the Year award in 2011.

www.aiweiwei.com

www.si.edu

Ai Weiwei is featured in Edition: Festivus