Ai Weiwei’s Shanghai studio demolition: top stories, photos, video

CHINESE ARTISTS ARTIST STUDIO DEMOLITION CHINESE GOVERNMENT

Ai Weiwei’s Shanghai studio has been demolished in a move by the government that took the artist by surprise: Chinese officials had said they wouldn’t act on a demolition warrant issued in June 2010 until after February 3 this year. Read on for our links to the top stories and photos.

The government demolition of Ai Weiwei's Shanghai studio began and ended on Tuesday 11 January, 2011. Image from shanghaiist.com.

The government demolition of Ai Weiwei's Shanghai studio began on Tuesday 11 January, 2011. Image from shanghaiist.com.

Design of the $1 million Shanghai studio began in summer 2008 and construction ended in July this year. The bulldozers rolled in on Tuesday. The artist had planned to use the space for art education purposes and to house an international artist-in-residence programme.

Said The New York Times on Wednesday,

Mr. Ai said that the officials might have moved ahead with their plans so that the destruction would take place without a spotlight. Neighbors of the studio called Mr. Ai’s assistant on Tuesday morning when they heard heavy machinery next door. Mr. Ai said he rushed onto an airplane in Beijing, where he lives, and arrived in time to see four machines and dozens of workers toiling away on the site. About 80 percent of the structures had been destroyed by the afternoon, he said.

Read more news on the demolition of Ai Weiwei’s Shanghai studio:

11 January, 2011 | Whitewashing the Art World: What’s Behind the Climate Of Censorship | The New York Observer
12 January, 2011 | Ai Weiwei’s Shanghai art studio is torn down without interference | Global Times
12 January, 2011 | China artist Ai Weiwei’s Shanghai studio demolished | BBC News
12 January, 2011 | Ai Weiwei and the art of demolition | The New Yorker
17 January, 2011 | An Alternative Take on the Demolition of Ai Weiwei’s Shanghai Studio | UnBeige
18 January, 2011 | Easy Come, Easy Go | The Hypermodern
18 January, 2011 | Ai Weiwei and Human Rights in China | ARTINFO
19 January, 2011 | The curious case of Ai Weiwei’s Shanghai studio | CreativeHunt
NEW! 25 January, 2011 | The Art of Social Advocacy | The Wall Street Journal

For images of Ai Weiwei’s Shanghai studio demolition visit:

11 January, 2011 | In Pictures: Ai Weiwei’s Shanghai studio demolished | Shanghaiist.com
Duyanpili’s photostream on Flickr documents the demolition

Watch below or on YouTube a 1:36 teaser from Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, a documentary to be released in 2011 on the history of the artist’s Shanghai studio. We see images of the studio during construction and Ai talks about how he became an architect.

Late last year, Ai Weiwei “celebrated” the impending demolition of his Shanghai studio by putting on a banquet in the building, inviting guests to feast on 10,000 river crabs provided by him.

We recently reported on London gallery Lisson’s new representation of the artist and his potentially politically-charged 2011 Taiwan exhibition.

Related Topics: Ai Weiwei, Chinese artists, art spaces