The famous Chinese artist dissident Ai Weiwei announced Friday its intention to create the island of Lesbos, Greece, a memorial that evokes the plight of refugees and those who died trying to reach Europe across the sea.
“Many people lost their lives at sea (…) it is necessary to erect a monument,” said Ai Weiwei told AFP during a press conference he gave to announce the projects.
“I already have a studio in Lesbos,” said the artist, also explaining that many of his students and their workshops in China and Germany will participate in “different projects.”
“This is a historic moment, whatever the perspective in which we place ourselves. As an artist, I want to be more involved, I [create] works related to this crisis able to raise an awareness, “he added.
The artist, 58, this week visited several refugee camps as well as the places where they arrive on the island of Lesbos the welcome refugees from neighboring Turkey. Ai Weiwei shared on social networks, in their accounts on Twitter and Instagram, images and videos which are a testimony of what there has happened.
In the photographs you see the artist in one of the beaches where they usually contribute refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq – in an attempt to escape and survive the conflict – taking a lifejacket of a child, a subject that has become an exodus symbol of what is happening since January last year , with almost 700 people drowned, mostly children, attempting the crossing between Turkey and Greece.
Ai Weiwei a fierce critic of the Chinese regime, has been traveling a lot since last July recovered her passport four years after it having been confiscated by the Chinese authorities. During a visit to London in September, said he was “proud” of the way “civilized” like Germany – a country where your child lives – had decided to accept refugees.
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