BERLIN, Feb 19 — The Babylon Theatre will be screening more than 50 films made over the past two decades by the Chinese dissident and activist, or others, about his work.
The films screened as part of “Censored: Ai Weiwei’s Films” cannot be shown in Weiwei’s native China, where “[his] name cannot be freely published or mentioned online and where the authorities have tried to erase [his] identity.”
“These films are my activism. They are my way of giving voice to these critical issues. Freedom of expression is the right from which all others flow. If this right is not guaranteed, then how can we talk about democracy, freedom, and human rights?” the artist explained in a statement.
Among them are Weiwei’s 2011 documentary Peaceful Land, on the death of activist and village leader Qian Yunhui, and 2009’s Disturbing the Peace, which documents an incident during activist Tan Zuoren’s trial on August 12, 2009.
During the filming of the documentary, Weiwei and other witnesses were notably harassed and detained by the police.
Also on show at the Babylon Theatre will be 2017’s Human Flow, about the ongoing refugee crisis, and 2010’s Remembrance, which features voice recordings reciting the names of over 5,000 students who perished in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.
“I am interested in those whose voices have been suppressed, like the refugees featured in my new film The Rest, because in recognising their humanity I maintain my own. I am not producing films just for the sake of producing films, but rather to bring these stories and injustices into the wider sphere so that others can know,” Weiwei noted in a statement.
In addition to screening some of his work in Berlin, Weiwei recently collaborated with German DIY-store Hornbach for the self-assembly sculpture “Safety Jackets Zipped the Other Way.”
The artwork can be arranged in various configurations depending on the available space, with Weiwei noting that “everybody can be an artist or has the opportunity or ability to make art.”
“Censored: Ai Weiwei’s Films” will be on view at Berlin’s Babylon Theatre from February 19 through 24. — AFP-Relaxnews
