wed 06/11/2024

theartsdesk in Hong Kong: Between the Devil and the Deep Weiwei | reviews, news & interviews

theartsdesk in Hong Kong: Between the Devil and the Deep Weiwei

theartsdesk in Hong Kong: Between the Devil and the Deep Weiwei

Art, censorship, tourism and China at ART HK

Ai Weiwei dropping a Han Dynasty urn (1995)

When people talk incessantly of freedom of speech, it means they are proud to have it or desperate to have it or desperate to defend it, or a mixture of all three. In Hong Kong, where I went at the end of May for the fourth edition of ART HK, people in the art world are constantly mentioning how free their speech is or else using a symbol to prove it - Ai Weiwei, the artist now imprisoned by China for "economic crimes" (ie subversive art). By speaking of Ai and displaying his work, one might almost get the impression China was not just to the north and three decades away from total control. Outside the art fair, alongside the Hong Kong flag, flies China's.

When people talk incessantly of freedom of speech, it means they are proud to have it or desperate to have it or desperate to defend it, or a mixture of all three. In Hong Kong, where I went at the end of May for the fourth edition of ART HK, people in the art world are constantly mentioning how free their speech is or else using a symbol to prove it - Ai Weiwei, the artist now imprisoned by China for "economic crimes" (ie subversive art). By speaking of Ai and displaying his work, one might almost get the impression China was not just to the north and three decades away from total control. Outside the art fair, alongside the Hong Kong flag, flies China's.

Is there something more behind this outpouring of concern than the welfare of Ai Weiwei?

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