NEW YORK—The art was not the star of this public art exhibit. Rather, it was the chic of its creator, Chinese artist-cum-dissident Ai Weiwei, and the fact that he was abducted by the Chinese security forces on April 3 and has not been heard from since.
At the unveiling of “Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads” in Grand Army Plaza on a soggy Wednesday morning, Mayor Michael Bloomberg was clear about that.
“Good morning. It’s a bittersweet honor,” were his first words. “Ai Weiwei could not be here with us for the unveiling of his latest work. ... He has been detained by the Chinese government, and the fact that we do not know where he is, or when he will be released, is very disturbing.”
Ai was originally scheduled to attend the event. His inauspicious absence meant that human rights abuses in China were brought to the mainstream of New York City’s civic discourse.
Most of Bloomberg’s speech, many of his answers to questions from the crowd, and most of the other speakers at the event addressed freedom of speech, and how this freedom is crushed by the Communist Party of China.
At the unveiling of “Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads” in Grand Army Plaza on a soggy Wednesday morning, Mayor Michael Bloomberg was clear about that.
“Good morning. It’s a bittersweet honor,” were his first words. “Ai Weiwei could not be here with us for the unveiling of his latest work. ... He has been detained by the Chinese government, and the fact that we do not know where he is, or when he will be released, is very disturbing.”
Ai was originally scheduled to attend the event. His inauspicious absence meant that human rights abuses in China were brought to the mainstream of New York City’s civic discourse.
Most of Bloomberg’s speech, many of his answers to questions from the crowd, and most of the other speakers at the event addressed freedom of speech, and how this freedom is crushed by the Communist Party of China.
