The Case of the Disappearing Artist

At the opening of two exhibitions – Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads at Somerset House and Ai Weiwei at the Lissen Gallery – there was one man missing. Ai Weiwei.

The artist has not been seen, save for a short visit granted to his wife in an undisclosed location on Sunday night, since he was detained at Beijing airport by the Chinese authorities on April 3rd.

His wife’s visit proved that he was in good health, but the most pressing questions surrounding his incarceration are yet to be answered. Why has he been arrested? Has he actually been arrested? What are the charges against him? And most importantly of all – when will he be freed?

Artists have rightly been up in arms about his arrest – Anish Kapoor dedicated a new installation unveiled at the Grand Palais in Paris to Ai Weiwei and described his detention as “barbaric”. But what can be done to bring more attention to Weiwei’s plight? What can be done to put pressure on the Chinese authorities? After all, if they can detain one of the country’s foremost artist’s with impunity, will the words of a few artists have them quaking in their boots?

Is it not now time for the politicians to step forward and condemn the detention of Ai Weiwei?

The Foreign Secretary, William Hague, released a statement on April 4th:
“I call on the Chinese government to urgently clarify Ai’s situation and wellbeing and hope he will be released immediately.”
But he has kept silence since then.

It will take more than a statement from the Foreign Secretary to put pressure on the Chinese authorities, public condemnation by Prime Ministers and Presidents would be a step in the right direction. And perhaps it is time for governments to re-think their relationships with China.

For too long governments have been willing to take a softly softly approach to China’s human rights abuses, believing that favourable trade relations are more important than basic rights.

If China can get away with detaining such a high profile public figure without fearing the consequences, God knows what it does to ordinary citizens.