ARI Working Paper Series
WPS 212 Citizen Ai: Warrior, Jester and Middleman
Author | : | William A. CALLAHAN |
Publication Date | : | Jan / 2014 |
Publisher | : | Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore |
Keywords | : | art, civil society, public intellectual, China, dissident, state |
Download |
Ai Weiwei is famous for crossing boundaries, especially the boundary between art and politics. To appreciate the often contradictory nature of Ai’s work, this essay employs multiple narratives: “Ai the Heroic Warrior” who criticizes the Chinese government, “Ai the Court Jester” who plays with the Chinese state and Western media, and “Ai the Middleman” who acts as a broker between China and the West and between civil society and the state in the PRC. The essay concludes that a fourth narrative can bring together these three stories in an multicoded understanding of Ai’s work: “Ai the Citizen Intellectual” who sometimes works with the state, and at other times against it—but always for the good of China. “Citizen intellectual” also tells us about a broader movement of activists and public intellectuals who are building civil society in China’s rapidly changing political context.