AI WEIWEI
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Born 1957 in Beijing
Lives and works in Beijing, China
Selected Awards
| 2010 | Honorar Doctorate Degree, Faculty of Politics and Social Science, University of Gent, Belgium. |
| 2009 | GQ Men of the Year 2009 |
| The Art Review Power 100, rank 43 | |
| 2008 | Chinese Contemporary Art Award |
Selected Activities
| 2010 | Digital Activism in China: A discussion with Jack Dorsey (co-founder of Twitter) and Richard MacManus, The Paley Media Center, New York, U.S. |
| International Culture festival Litcologne, talk with Nobel Prize winner Herta Müller, in Cologne, Germany. | |
| 2008 | Curator of the architecture project Ordos 100 |
| Citizen Investigation” project, researching information about the students that died in the Earthquake in Sichuan on May 12th, 2008 | |
| 2007 | participation in Documenta 12, Kassel, Germany. For his project “Fairytale” he invited 1001 Chinese citizens to Kassel |
| 2003 – 2008 | Commissioned to design the Beijing’s 2008 Olympic Stadium together with Herzog & de Meuron, finished construction in 2008. |
Solo Exhibitions
| 2010 | Cube Light, MISA SHIN GALLERY, Tokyo, Japan |
| The Unilever Series: Ai Weiwei, Turbine Hall, Tate Modern, London, UK | |
| Ai Weiwei, Galerie Urs Meile, Lucerne, Switzerland | |
| Dropping the Urn, ceramics 5000 BCE – 2010 CE, Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland, USA | |
| Ai Weiwei, Haines Gallery, San Francisco, USA | |
| Barely something, Stiftung DKM, Duisburg, Germany | |
| Dropping the Urn, ceramics 5000 BCE – 2010 CE, Arcadia University Gallery, Glenside, USA | |
| 2009 | With Milk_find something everybody can use, Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, Barcelona, Spain |
| World Map, Faurschou Gallery, Beijing, China | |
| So sorry, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany | |
| According to What?, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan | |
| Ways Beyond Art, Ivory Press Space, Madrid, Spain | |
| Four Movements, Phillips de Pury, London, UK | |
| Ai Weiwei: New York Photographs 1983-1993, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing, China | |
| 2008 | Ai Weiwei, Albion Gallery, London, UK |
| Ai Weiwei, Hyundai Gallery, Seoul, Korea | |
| Under Construction, Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, Campbelltown Arts Center, Sydney, Australia | |
| Illumination, Mary Boone Gallery, New York, USA | |
| Go China! Ai Weiwei, Groninger Museum, Groningen, The Netherlands | |
| 2007 | Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing-Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland |
| Traveling Landscapes, AedesLand, Berlin, Germany | |
| 2006 | Fragments, Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing-Lucerne, Beijing, China |
Group Exhibitions
| 2010 | Taking a Stance, 8 Critical Attitudes in Chinese and Dutch Architecture and Design, OCAT Art & Design Gallery, Shenzhen, China |
| Regionale 10, Liezen, Austria | |
| The Problem of Asia, Chalk Horse, Sydney, Australia | |
| Marcel Duchamp and the Forestay Waterfall, Salle Davel, Cully, Switzerland | |
| Lost and Found, Neugerriemschneider, Berlin, Germany | |
| Taking a Stance, 8 Critical Attitudes in Chinese and Dutch Architecture and Design, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China | |
| Rema(i)nders, Galleria Continua, Beijing, China | |
| The State of Things. Brussels / Beijing, (curator) National Art Museum, Beijing, China | |
| Acconci Studio + Ai Weiwei: A Collaborative Project, Para/Site Art Space, Hong Kong | |
| Taking a Stance, 8 Critical Attitudes in Chinese and Dutch Architecture and Design, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China | |
| Until Now: Collecting the New (1960-2010), Target Gallery, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, USA | |
| Taking a Stance, 8 Critical Attitudes in Chinese and Dutch Architecture and Design, Dutch Culture Center, Shanghai, China | |
| Radical Conceptual, Museum of Modern Art, Frankfurt am Main, Germany | |
| Contemplating the Void, Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA | |
| 2009 | Beg, Borrow and Steal, Rubell Family Collection, Miami, USA |
| Fascination with the Foreign: China – Japan – Europe, The Hetjens Museum, Dusseldorf, Germany | |
| Garbage, AfterGallery, projectroom, Moscow, Russia | |
| Attitude, Shit-art Center, Zhengzhou, China | |
| The State of Things. Brussels / Beijing, (curator) Bozar Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium | |
| Pete and Repeat – the works from the Zabludowicz Collection, 176, London, UK | |
| Void of Memory, Kimusa of Platform 2009, Seoul, Korea | |
| Fairytale, Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art, Herzliya, Israel | |
| The Making of Art, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany | |
| I want to talk to you, T.art Center, Beijing, China | |
| The Big World: Recent Art from China, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, USA | |
| Map Games: Dynamic of change, Center for Contemporary Arts (CAOS), Terni, Italy | |
| United Technologies, Lismore Castle, Lismore, Ireland | |
| The Making of Art, Kunsthalle Schirn, Frankfurt am Main, Germany | |
| Action – Camera: Beijing Performance Photography, Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada | |
| Mahjong: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection, The Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, USA | |
| 2008 | Earthquake, Art Channel, Beijing, China |
| China: Construction / Deconstruction – Chinese Contemporary Art, Museu de Arte de São Paolo, São Paolo, Brazil | |
| Out there: Architecture Beyond Building, Biennale Arcitecture, 11th International Architecture Exhibition, Venice, Italy | |
| Liverpool Biennial International 08:Made Up, Tate Liverpool, Liverpool, UK | |
| Super Fengshui: UCCA Site Commissions,Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China | |
| Reconstruction # 3. The Artists Playground, Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire, UK | |
| China Power Station: Part III. Musee d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg, Luxembourg | |
| Branded and on Display. Tufts University Art Gallery, Medford, USA | |
| Branded and on Display. Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, USA | |
| Branded and on Display. Salt Lake City Art Center. Salt Lake City, USA | |
| Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary, Museum of Arts and Design, New York, USA | |
| Hypallage –The Post-Modern Mode of Contemporary Chinese Art, OCT Art & Design Gallery, Shenzhen, China | |
| Half-Life of a Dream – Contemporary Chinese Art from the Logan Collection, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, USA | |
| Selections from the Hara Museum’s Permanent Collection, Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan | |
| Mahjong: Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection, The University of California, Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, USA | |
| China. The City exp(l)osed, Institut Francais d’Architecture & du Patrimoine, Paris, France | |
| Map games: Dynamic of change, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China | |
| China Gold – Chinese Contemporary Art, Musée Maillol, Paris, France | |
| Interval of Silence, RedStar Gallery, Beijing, China | |
| Body Media, Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China | |
| Delirious Beijing, PKM Gallery, Beijing, China | |
| Community of Tastes, Iberia Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China | |
| New Vista – The Phenomenon of Post-Tradition in Contemporary Art, White Space Gallery, Beijing, China | |
| Body Media, Tang Contemporary Art, Beijing, China | |
| Red Aside: Chinese Contemporary Art of the Sigg Collection, Fundacio Joan Miro, Barcelona, Spain | |
| The Real Thing. Contemporary Art from China, Institut Valencia d’Art Modern (IVAM), Valencia, Spain | |
| 2007 | Sixth Shenzhen Contemporary Sculpture Exhibition A Vista of Perspectives, OCT Contemporary Art Terminal, Shenzhen, China |
| Origin Point: Star Star Group. Retrospective Exhibition, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China | |
| EI – Entity Identity – Beijing Series. Western Concepts – Chinese Drafts, Stedelijk Museum s’ Hertogenbosch, MB ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands | |
| Fortunate Objects: Selections from the Ella Fontanals Cisneros Collection, CIFO – Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, Miami, USA | |
| Inspired by China – Contemporary Furnituremakers Explore Chinese Traditions, Museum of Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale, USA | |
| China Now, Cobra Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands | |
| Get It Louder, SOHO Shangdu, Beijing, China | |
| Something New Pussycat, Klara Wallner Galerie, Berlin, Germany | |
| Energies – Synergy, Foundation De 11 Lijnen, Oudenburg, Belgium | |
| Chinese Video: Chord Chances in the Megalopolis, Morono Kiang Gallery, Los Angeles, USA | |
| Mahjong – Chinesische Gegenwartskunst aus der Sammlung Sigg, Museum der Moderne, Salzburg, Austria | |
| documenta 12, Kassel, Germany | |
| Contemporary Art Exhibitions of Kogo Art Space, Kogo Art Space, Hangzhou, China | |
| Metamorphosis: The Generation of Transformation in Chinese Contemporary Art, Tampere Art Museum, Tampere, Finland | |
| Thermocline of Art. New Asian Waves, ZKM – Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe, Germany | |
| Art from China – Collection Uli Sigg, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil | |
| China Welcomes you… Desires, Struggles, New Identities, Kunsthaus Graz, Graz, Austria | |
| The Year of the Golden Pig – Contemporary Chinese Art from the Sigg Collection, Lewis Glucksman Gallery, Cork University College, Cork, Ireland | |
| Money, Beijing Today Gallery, Beijing, China | |
| Forged Realities, UniversalStudios, Beijing, China | |
| The Real Thing: Contemporary Art from China, Tate Liverpool, Liverpool, UK | |
| Project We are the future, 2nd Moskow Biennial of Contemporary Art, Art Centre Winzavod, Moskow, Russia | |
| Branded and on Display, Kannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Champaign, USA | |
| Branded and on Display, Ulrich Museum of Art, Kansas State University, Wichita, USA | |
| A Continuous Dialogue, Galleria Continua, San Gimignano, Italy | |
| What about sculpture? Chambers Fine Art, New York, USA | |
| 2006 | Art in Motion – Chinese Contemporary Art meets BMW Art Cars, Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai, Shanghai, China |
| This Is Not For You – Sculptural Discourses, Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Vienna, Austria | |
| Detours. Tactical Approaches to Urbanization in China, Eric Arthur Gallery, Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada | |
| China now. Faszination einer Weltveränderung, Sammlung Essl, Kunst der Gegenwart, Klosterneuburg / Vienna, Austria | |
| Mahjong – Chinesische Gegenwartskunst aus der Sammlung Sigg, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany | |
| MoCA Envisage / Entry Gate: Chinese Aesthetics of Heterogeneity, Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai, Shanghai, China | |
| The 5th Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery, Queensland, Australia | |
| Zones of Contact, 15th Biennial of Sydney, Sydney, Australia | |
| Territorial. Ai Weiwei und Serge Spitzer, Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, Germany | |
| Altered, Stitched and Gathered, P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, New York, USA | |
| China Power Station I, Serpentine Gallery, London, UK | |
| Herzog & de Meuron. No 250. Eine Ausstellung, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany | |
| Fill in the Blanks, China Art Archives & Warehouse, Beijing, China | |
| Busan Biennial 2006, Busan Museum of Modern Art, Busan, Korea | |
| Misleading Trails, Samek Art Gallery, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, USA | |
| Misleading Trails, Schick Art Gallery, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, USA | |
| Misleading Trails, Boyden Gallery, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, St. Mary’s City, USA | |
| Cityscapes ‘Beijing Welcomes You’. Ein Stadtmodell von Lu Hao sowie Fotografien von Ai Weiwei, Kunsthaus Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany | |
| A Continuous Dialogue, Galleria Continua, Beijing, China | |
| Inspired by China – Contemporary Furnituremakers Explore Chinese Traditions, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, USA | |
| China Contemporary. Architecture, Art and Visual Culture, Netherlands Architecture Institute, Rotterdam, The Netherlands | |
| Black and Blue, Robert Miller Gallery, New York, USA | |
| Antique Modernity – Breaking Traditions, Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, New York, USA | |
| 2006 Beaufort Outside, Museum of Modern Art, Oostende, Belgium | |
| China zwischen Vergangenheit und Zukunft / Between Past and Future – New Photography and Video from China, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany | |
| Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, USA | |
| Regeneration. Contemporary Chinese Art from China and the US, Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, USA | |
| 2005 | The 2nd Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China |
| Misleading Trails, Fine Arts Gallery, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA | |
| Misleading Trails, Charlotte and Philip Hanes Art Gallery, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, USA | |
| Misleading Trails, University of North Texas Art Gallery, Denton, USA | |
| Misleading Trails, Altgeld Gallery, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, USA | |
| Regeneration. Contemporary Chinese Art from China and the US, Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, USA | |
| Regeneration. Contemporary Chinese Art from China and the US, University Art Gallery, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, USA | |
| Regeneration. Contemporary Chinese Art from China and the US, Ben Maltz Gallery, Otis Otis College of Art & Design, Los Angeles, USA | |
| Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK | |
| Xianfeng! Beeldhouwkunst von de Chinese avant-garde / Chinese Avant-Garde Sculpture, Museum Beelden aan Zee, Scheveningen, The Netherlands | |
| Convergence at E116′/N40, Platform China Contemporary Art Institute, Beijing, China | |
| A Strange Heaven – Contemporary Chinese Photography, Tennis Palace Art Museum, Helsinki, Finland | |
| Mahjong – Chinesische Gegenwartskunst aus der Sammlung Sigg, Kunstmuseum Bern, Berne, Switzerland | |
| 1st Monpellier Biennial of Chinese Contemporary Art, Montpellier, France | |
| Cina. Prospettive d’Arte Contemporanea / China: As Seen by Contemporary Chinese Artists, Provincia di Milano, Spazio Oberdan, Milan, Italy | |
| Herzog & de Meuron. An Exhibition, Tate Modern, London, UK | |
| No 250. An Exhibition. Beauty and Waste in the Architecture of Herzog & de Meuron, Netherlands Architecture Institute, Rotterdam, The Netherlands |