The Guardian online - Simon Schama TV -
127,713. Ai Weiwei: The artwork that made me the most dangerous person in China: The work was called Remembering. Given all our social and political investigations, it was about how, in Chinese society, with censorship and control, individuals can still take action to defend their very, very fragile rights. It was also the culmination of all my years on the internet. I’ve been blogging since 2005, so when that show happened in Munich in 2009, it was like all my efforts were coming to a head. Not long after, I was put in jail and had all kinds of struggles with authority. Remembering was a high point.
The kind of authoritarian state we have in China cannot survive if it answers questions – if the truth is revealed, they are finished. So they started to think of me as the most dangerous person in China. That made me become an artist, but also an activist. So for Remembering, I covered the whole of the Haus der Kunst’s facade with children’s backpacks, spelling out in Chinese what that mother had told me. The design and the colours were inspired by Toys R Us. The Guardian online article 15 February 2018
117,993. Ai Weiwei: Law of the Journey 2017 … Cast adrift on an infinite ocean of terror and despair. (Civilisation & Creativity & Culture & Art & Artists: Weiwei) Simon Schama, Civilisations s1e9: The Vital Spark