Honest View from renowned Chinese Artist : Opening Ceremony ‘Visual
Garbage’ Says Bird’s Nest Designer / Epoch Times

Opening Ceremony ‘Visual Garbage’ Says Bird’s Nest Designer

By Joan Delaney

Epoch Times Staff Aug 10, 2008

http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/images/stories/large/2008/08/11/74593324_aiweiwei.jp...
Chinese artist and design consultant Ai Weiwei to the 'Bird's Nest'
blasted Beijing's opening ceremonies in his blog. (Thomas Lohnes/Getty
Images)

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, who helped design the Bird’s Nest Olympic
stadium, has strongly criticized the Games’ opening ceremony on his
blog, calling it “a vaudeville” and “visual garbage that blasphemes the
spirit of freedom.”

He said the portrayal of traditional culture in the ceremony, which he
didn’t attend, was “manipulated” and “fake."

Addressing China’s communist regime, Ai wrote, “You can possess rights
and control, and put on a grand ceremony…but it won't win the smallest
respect, it won't win any reliable friendship.”

He called the regime “a revolting expression on a fake smiling face”
that will be remembered for humiliating China.

Ai worked closely with the Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron as an
artistic consultant for the design of the stadium but he has since
become an outspoken blogger against the Olympics and the Chinese regime.

This isn’t the first time Ai has criticized Beijing. In a recent open
letter he called for drastic political reform in China and voiced
concerns that Chinese authorities are using the Games to strengthen
their control over the Chinese people.

Ai is one of very few critics of the Chinese Communist Party who has not
been censored by authorities. He is the son of a famous Chinese poet,
which may be the reason, say China experts, he can get away with being
so outspoken.
Last Updated

Aug 10, 2008