0:00:02 > 0:00:06This programme contains some strong language.
0:00:06 > 0:00:09Ai Weiwei, China's most politically outspoken artist
0:00:09 > 0:00:10was arrested in April
0:00:10 > 0:00:13accused of economic crimes.
0:00:13 > 0:00:17His imprisonment sparked an international campaign
0:00:17 > 0:00:18for his freedom.
0:00:18 > 0:00:24Released after 11 weeks of detention and unable to comment on his case,
0:00:24 > 0:00:29speculation remains about the motivation for his arrest.
0:00:29 > 0:00:35If you question about the Communist authority,
0:00:35 > 0:00:38or if you're questioning basic human rights,
0:00:38 > 0:00:40then you are not free.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44Now, more than ever, his work is admired and acclaimed
0:00:44 > 0:00:45throughout the world.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48But he is still best known for this,
0:00:48 > 0:00:51the Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium, in Beijing.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01Tonight's Imagine - first shown last year before his arrest -
0:01:01 > 0:01:05followed Ai Weiwei as he created a new work for Tate Modern,
0:01:05 > 0:01:10made from 100 million porcelain sunflower seeds.
0:01:13 > 0:01:15A portrait of a man pioneering in his art
0:01:15 > 0:01:17and fearless in his politics.
0:01:53 > 0:01:58Ai Weiwei is, to my mind, the most significant Chinese artist
0:01:58 > 0:02:00that certainly we are aware of in the West.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03He's articulate. He's passionate.
0:02:03 > 0:02:08He goes to the edge. He's unafraid of criticising the politics
0:02:08 > 0:02:10and the situation in his own country.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13Nor indeed is he afraid of criticising western capitalism
0:02:13 > 0:02:14in some way, either.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17He is a unique figure.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24He's not only an artist.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27He's not only a scholar.
0:02:27 > 0:02:29He's a photographer. He designs clothes.
0:02:29 > 0:02:33He's a specialist in precious stones.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35He's an antique furniture dealer.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38He is an architect. He's a landscape architect.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40I mean, the list is endless.
0:02:42 > 0:02:47There a reason why there's not many people like Ai Weiwei in China, and the reason is that it's very risky.
0:02:51 > 0:02:56At his studio in Beijing, Ai Weiwei spends much of his day on Twitter,
0:02:56 > 0:02:58a website banned in China.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02Before it was shut down by the Chinese authorities,
0:03:02 > 0:03:05his previous blog was followed by hundreds of thousands.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09In a country where his views are rarely published,
0:03:09 > 0:03:13it gives him a vital cultural space to exchange ideas.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17And it's raised his profile, with a growing fan base.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20TRANSLATION:
0:03:20 > 0:03:22THEY SPEAK CHINESE
0:03:49 > 0:03:53This set is marble works on the...
0:03:53 > 0:03:59It's a kind of camera they put out in front of my door by undercover police.
0:03:59 > 0:04:06So, they're really monitoring my activity, tapping my telephone.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22I think it's kind of intimidating me.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25They see this kind of camera everywhere now,
0:04:25 > 0:04:30so I think this is really a very important object of our time.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36I see many people - other people, who have much less activities -
0:04:36 > 0:04:40being put away and, you know, sentenced.
0:04:41 > 0:04:48And also some people who relate to me also being put in jail.
0:04:48 > 0:04:49So...
0:04:49 > 0:04:54If you think about it, you'll lose your sleep.
0:04:54 > 0:04:55It's kind of terrifying.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00Since I was denied permission from the Chinese government
0:05:00 > 0:05:03to interview Ai Weiwei in Beijing,
0:05:03 > 0:05:06I had no alternative but to use his favoured medium,
0:05:06 > 0:05:09the Internet, until we could eventually meet in London.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11It's very nice to meet you.
0:05:11 > 0:05:16You know, I wanted to come but I couldn't come. There was...
0:05:17 > 0:05:19- 'So, er...'- Yes.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22You're used to communicating in this way, I take it?
0:05:22 > 0:05:27I start to...in love with this kind of meetings.
0:05:27 > 0:05:32Because this is the way to express yourself freely
0:05:32 > 0:05:36in a way that you couldn't otherwise, or you're not personally able to do?
0:05:36 > 0:05:41Ah, yes. In many cases, this is the only way - only channel.
0:05:42 > 0:05:48And you can really express yourself clearly,
0:05:48 > 0:05:49and very direct.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53Is that expression - that ability to express yourself -
0:05:53 > 0:05:56an important part of who you are
0:05:56 > 0:05:59and what you have been all your life as an artist?
0:05:59 > 0:06:03Yes, I realise this is, er...
0:06:03 > 0:06:06a core value for artists,
0:06:06 > 0:06:12to fight for your rights and to clearly express who you are,
0:06:12 > 0:06:16and to, again and again, emphasise on that.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22Ai Weiwei has always been outspoken,
0:06:22 > 0:06:27but a recent project put him in direct confrontation with the government.
0:06:28 > 0:06:33An earthquake in the Sichuan province in 2008
0:06:33 > 0:06:35caused many school buildings to collapse,
0:06:35 > 0:06:38resulting in the death of thousands of children.
0:06:40 > 0:06:45In response, Ai Weiwei made a work from 9,000 children's rucksacks,
0:06:45 > 0:06:51covering the entire facade of the Museum of Art in Munich.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54It spelt out the heartfelt words of one grieving mother,
0:06:54 > 0:06:57whose child was killed in the earthquake.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10AI WEIWEI:
0:07:21 > 0:07:26Hundreds of schools collapsed while the surrounding buildings remained standing,
0:07:26 > 0:07:31which convinced many people that the schools hadn't been properly constructed.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36In the ruins, there were only schoolbags left and sometimes,
0:07:36 > 0:07:39even names were withdrawn from these schoolbags -
0:07:39 > 0:07:42children's schoolbags - and of course the young victims
0:07:42 > 0:07:48got buried immediately, without the parents having the chance, anyway, to identify.
0:07:48 > 0:07:52So, Ai Weiwei took up action and very simple -
0:07:52 > 0:07:54he wanted to have names.
0:08:03 > 0:08:08This chart we put on the wall is the names of those students
0:08:08 > 0:08:12who...died in this, er, earthquake.
0:08:12 > 0:08:17Those information has been considered as a state secret,
0:08:17 > 0:08:19and never given out.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23He asked followers of his blog
0:08:23 > 0:08:26to choose one name each and read it out.
0:08:27 > 0:08:31VOICES READ THE STUDENTS' NAMES
0:08:36 > 0:08:39So, gradually, it generated too much heat
0:08:39 > 0:08:43and the government cannot bury this heat,
0:08:43 > 0:08:45so they shut off my blog.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50One campaigner, Tan Zuoren, was arrested,
0:08:50 > 0:08:53charged with revealing state secrets.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56During the trial, Ai Weiwei travelled to Chengdu
0:08:56 > 0:09:01to testify in his defence and, as ever, documented his experiences.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06TRANSLATION:
0:09:21 > 0:09:23TRANSLATION:
0:09:27 > 0:09:28BANGING
0:09:46 > 0:09:51About 3,000 police just rushed into this hotel
0:09:51 > 0:09:56and they kicked down the door very violently, and we had an argument.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58I asked them to show me their badge
0:09:58 > 0:10:03and for what reason they come to the hotel. They beat me.
0:10:04 > 0:10:10They locked us in the hotel until the court finished.
0:10:11 > 0:10:16After the encounter, Ai Weiwei was suffering from severe headaches,
0:10:16 > 0:10:18but travelled to Germany
0:10:18 > 0:10:21for the opening of a major new exhibition of his work.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25The very moment he arrived in Munich, he had such a headache
0:10:25 > 0:10:27that we decided to have him checked out,
0:10:27 > 0:10:30and he stayed in hospital after for about two weeks and a half.
0:10:33 > 0:10:38The doctor said, "You have to stay and do the operation right away,
0:10:38 > 0:10:40"because this is very dangerous.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44- "You have blood in your..." - Your brain.- Yeah.
0:10:44 > 0:10:46And later the doctor told me,
0:10:46 > 0:10:50if he didn't do it immediately I may just die.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17Today at his studio, Ai Weiwei examines some newly finished works.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20His interest in the cultural traditions of China
0:11:20 > 0:11:23has led him to explore the use of ceramic in his artwork.
0:11:27 > 0:11:32But for Ai Weiwei, creation and destruction go hand in hand.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48It's not good.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52I mean, it still feels very painful,
0:11:52 > 0:11:56but still, it comes to a point where you just have to do it, you know.
0:11:56 > 0:12:02It's more like self-punishing, to...
0:12:05 > 0:12:08To really perform with some kind of standard.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14Yeah, it is. The whole process is very frustrating.
0:12:27 > 0:12:33Born in 1957, Ai Weiwei grew up during a turbulent period in China's political history.
0:12:34 > 0:12:38The Cultural Revolution that began in the mid '60s
0:12:38 > 0:12:43was the name given to Mao's Tse-Tung's attempt to impose his vision of a classless society,
0:12:43 > 0:12:49and to eliminate all those he suspected of undermining his authority.
0:12:51 > 0:12:56He singled out enemies such as landlords, counter revolutionaries,
0:12:56 > 0:13:02rightists, foreign agents, capitalists and intellectuals.
0:13:02 > 0:13:07Millions were forced into manual labour and tens of thousands executed.
0:13:12 > 0:13:17Anything that has, er, traces about the past,
0:13:17 > 0:13:23or has sentiment about the past, has to be destroyed.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31Chairman Mao had a slogan about that we can destroy old world,
0:13:31 > 0:13:34and we can also build a new world.
0:13:34 > 0:13:39But building a new world has to be based on destroying the old world,
0:13:39 > 0:13:42so this is almost like a black-and-white situation.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52Ai Weiwei was born the same year that his father became the target
0:13:52 > 0:13:54for this intense political campaign,
0:13:54 > 0:14:00and so his entire life was defined by his father's persecution.
0:14:01 > 0:14:06Ai Weiwei's father, Ai Qing, was a distinguished revolutionary poet
0:14:06 > 0:14:08and a member of the Communist Party.
0:14:08 > 0:14:13He advised Mao on literary policy and wrote a poem that praised him.
0:14:14 > 0:14:19But his devotion to the party was called into question in 1956,
0:14:19 > 0:14:23when he wrote The Gardener's Dream, a short work of allegorical prose
0:14:23 > 0:14:27that told the story of a rose gardener
0:14:27 > 0:14:30who realised he was discriminating against other flowers.
0:14:32 > 0:14:37Despite its subtle theme, the work was seen as counter-revolutionary.
0:14:37 > 0:14:42Ai Qing was stripped of his titles and sent into exile with his family,
0:14:42 > 0:14:47to a remote region of China at the edge of the Gobi desert.
0:14:52 > 0:14:54If you were branded a rightist,
0:14:54 > 0:14:57your family became what was called a black family.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00So...within society,
0:15:00 > 0:15:04you were known to be a family that people weren't supposed to talk to.
0:15:04 > 0:15:05You were ostracised.
0:15:05 > 0:15:11For next 20 years, he couldn't write anything, you know -
0:15:11 > 0:15:15it's not allowed to use his name to write.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18He was punished to doing the hard labour.
0:15:20 > 0:15:25To clean the public toilets, certain of them, and, er...
0:15:25 > 0:15:31Which was considered a most insulting and unbearable work.
0:15:33 > 0:15:37They lived underground, real underground.
0:15:37 > 0:15:41They would dig a hole underground and were living there.
0:15:44 > 0:15:50Of course we have to make bricks ourself, you know,
0:15:50 > 0:15:56to dig the earth to make the mould and make the bricks and fire,
0:15:56 > 0:15:59and take it out, so I know all the process
0:15:59 > 0:16:04and I built my own bookshelves and my own bed.
0:16:04 > 0:16:09So you start to learn everything from a very early age.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16Ai Weiwei, I think, found refuge in some sense with his hands.
0:16:16 > 0:16:21I mean, he became almost obsessively interested in crafting things.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25He would make all kinds of home-made inventions.
0:16:27 > 0:16:33Of course, when we grew up it's not a fashion to talk about art or literature.
0:16:33 > 0:16:38And he burned all his books
0:16:38 > 0:16:44because the Red Guard would come any time to check on those books,
0:16:44 > 0:16:49so you'd better burn, otherwise constantly trouble you're in.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57The government controlled everything,
0:16:57 > 0:16:59and the art was part of that.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03Many of the artists were put in what they called cow sheds,
0:17:03 > 0:17:07which was a kind of prison, and they were given animal names.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09They were called snakes and mules.
0:17:09 > 0:17:14Students used to take off their belts and whip them.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17They stood in an airplane position,
0:17:17 > 0:17:20which is like this, for hours on end.
0:17:27 > 0:17:33So artists could only function as propaganda painters.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36Only approved subjects and approved styles.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40For 30 years, really, that was the art scene.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48It's interesting, this motif,
0:17:48 > 0:17:52which was so popular, which is this motif of the sunflower.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58First of all, the idea of sunflowers are always turned to the sun
0:17:58 > 0:18:04became a ready metaphor for all of the people turning to look at Mao.
0:18:04 > 0:18:09So you have that kind of idea of obedience, inevitable obedience
0:18:09 > 0:18:12because the sunflower doesn't choose.
0:18:17 > 0:18:21In 1976 Mao Zedong died.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25He'd led the country for over 30 years and become one of the most
0:18:25 > 0:18:30influential and controversial figures in political history.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34Despite the cult of personality that had been fostered around him,
0:18:34 > 0:18:35after his death
0:18:35 > 0:18:41many of his policies were abandoned as China embraced economic reform.
0:18:41 > 0:18:47The same year, Ai Qing was allowed to return to Beijing.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51It was a turning point for Ai Weiwei too.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55By this time your father's reputation had been rehabilitated,
0:18:55 > 0:18:58so what did your father say when you said you wanted to go to the United States?
0:18:58 > 0:19:01He has been in many, many nations.
0:19:01 > 0:19:05He studied in Paris, but in his generation when they
0:19:05 > 0:19:09decide to go out, the purpose is to use their knowledge to change China.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13So, I told him that's his generation
0:19:13 > 0:19:17and I don't care, I just have to leave.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21So, I was quite extreme, I made decision I would never come back
0:19:21 > 0:19:25to China again so I told my mother on the way to airport.
0:19:25 > 0:19:29I said, you know, I'm going home.
0:19:33 > 0:19:38Home for Ai Weiwei was New York.
0:19:38 > 0:19:43First thing I want to experience is liberty.
0:19:43 > 0:19:48This is a really extremely liberal world.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53I very much want to record it.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56I have nothing else to do.
0:19:56 > 0:20:01It's very simple, have a camera and take a shot.
0:20:09 > 0:20:16Tompkins Square Park probably was the most liberal park in New York City.
0:20:16 > 0:20:23It's surrounded by musicians, poet, artist, poor people, homeless.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28A riot took place here in 1988
0:20:28 > 0:20:32after the city authorities imposed a curfew on the park.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35Ai Weiwei found himself in the middle of it.
0:20:41 > 0:20:43RAISED VOICES AND SHOUTING
0:20:43 > 0:20:49To see civil moment against local government,
0:20:49 > 0:20:54or police brutality, is very fascinating.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56He lived in the lower east side
0:20:56 > 0:20:58which at that time was really a down and out place.
0:20:58 > 0:21:04I went up in the elevator to his apartment and it was just one room,
0:21:04 > 0:21:07a mattress on the floor and the only other possession was a TV.
0:21:07 > 0:21:13And it was during the Senate investigation of, I think it was the Iran Contra hearings.
0:21:15 > 0:21:20He was so excited that the government would actually go after their own.
0:21:20 > 0:21:24- And you've admitted that you lied to the Congress, correct?- I have.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27And you admitted that you lied in creating false chronologies.
0:21:27 > 0:21:32I realised there's many things I don't really understand.
0:21:32 > 0:21:37I should leave some image about it, so later on,
0:21:37 > 0:21:41maybe it can serve some purpose.
0:21:41 > 0:21:46There was a very active Chinese exile community
0:21:46 > 0:21:49in New York which he also documented.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52He had a lot of connections
0:21:52 > 0:21:54and dialogues with the Chinese diaspora,
0:21:54 > 0:21:58Chinese artists, composers, architects.
0:22:00 > 0:22:06And then for example to meet Allen Ginsberg, he met the poets of the beat generation.
0:22:06 > 0:22:08For him, the poetry link was vital.
0:22:08 > 0:22:13Increasingly exposed to western influences,
0:22:13 > 0:22:15Ai Weiwei visited museums
0:22:15 > 0:22:21and galleries, acquainting himself with a more conceptual approach to contemporary art.
0:22:21 > 0:22:27Taking particular inspiration from Andy Warhol and Marcel Duchamp.
0:22:28 > 0:22:32Don't make too much art, use what's already out there,
0:22:32 > 0:22:34but you as an artist, you can say this is art.
0:22:34 > 0:22:36Marcel Duchamp, very simple.
0:22:36 > 0:22:42And Marcel Duchamp also tries to question the context of art
0:22:42 > 0:22:45and when something gets to be art.
0:22:45 > 0:22:50When is art? Not what is art, but when is art.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57I guess the important thing were these great influences
0:22:57 > 0:22:59that he discovered and had.
0:22:59 > 0:23:05Some things were direct homages, you know, a coat hanger bent into the shape of the profile of Duchamp.
0:23:05 > 0:23:11A double-ended shoe as if the left and the right shoe had somehow morphed into one.
0:23:11 > 0:23:17It's the artwork as a kind of small, mysterious enigmatic object.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21But in a way, the fact that everything was grounded in the everyday
0:23:21 > 0:23:26in stuff that you could find on the street, or in your wardrobe,
0:23:26 > 0:23:28gave him a great deal of freedom.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31It's almost like he'd taken things apart, putting them back
0:23:31 > 0:23:38but always with meticulous refinement so they were beautiful objects.
0:23:38 > 0:23:42So Weiwei, when he does something, he does it really, really well.
0:23:45 > 0:23:50If I look at those photos I can see a young man who is struggling
0:23:50 > 0:23:54and trying to adjust himself to a new environment.
0:23:54 > 0:23:59It's a lot of struggle and
0:23:59 > 0:24:02also a lot of uncertainty there.
0:24:08 > 0:24:13By 1989, uncertainty was also brewing in China.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16In April, following the death of a pro-democracy official,
0:24:16 > 0:24:21groups gathered in Tiananmen Square, calling for political reform.
0:24:24 > 0:24:29It's like a people's revolution and seems everything's going to change.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32Everybody is so enthusiastic about it.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34Going to march. Tiananmen Square.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38They had such optimism, all these young people.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41They wanted to be represented. They wanted a voice.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46My father was in a wheelchair.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50He personally went to the square to support the students.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53He said whoever lost
0:24:53 > 0:24:59the way of the people would have lost their governing
0:24:59 > 0:25:03and he showed strong support for the student.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13Then in early June, the army moved into the streets of Beijing
0:25:13 > 0:25:18with troops and tanks, clearing the protestors with live fire.
0:25:20 > 0:25:25The exact number of deaths is not known, but it's thought to be in the thousands.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36Nobody believed this government can use tank.
0:25:36 > 0:25:37The impossible.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47You went back to China
0:25:47 > 0:25:49to see your father.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52Did that draw you back to China and keep you there?
0:25:52 > 0:25:58At the very beginning, when I heard my father's ill, you know, after the Tiananmen,
0:25:58 > 0:26:02I start to realise
0:26:02 > 0:26:05some sort of a responsibility.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08I think there was a certain point for him,
0:26:08 > 0:26:11particularly around Tiananmen Square,
0:26:11 > 0:26:15where you had this sort of deep freeze in the Chinese art world
0:26:15 > 0:26:17and in Chinese commercial life.
0:26:17 > 0:26:19And then afterwards you had this reawakening,
0:26:19 > 0:26:22and I think at that point he started to realise that
0:26:22 > 0:26:25something was happening in China he had to participate in.
0:26:27 > 0:26:32Ai Weiwei soon began work on a series of underground books.
0:26:32 > 0:26:37We call the black book, black book, white book and a grey book.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41The book has no title because this
0:26:41 > 0:26:45underground printing, that means it's not legal.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20Yes, this is my photography.
0:27:22 > 0:27:27That's about in front of Tiananmen Square.
0:27:30 > 0:27:36It was very dangerous actually with kind of nudity, you know.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40People are not ready to accept.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56It became a sensation.
0:27:56 > 0:27:57Not only for foreigners
0:27:57 > 0:28:00who were interested in the Chinese art world but really for Chinese artists themselves.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03I think it was one of the first times in that period where they started
0:28:03 > 0:28:06to realise that something was germinating.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10It became in some sense kind of iconic documents of that period,
0:28:10 > 0:28:12and they still are today.
0:28:26 > 0:28:32I planted it because in the early time you see my father really likes this kind of objects.
0:28:32 > 0:28:40They would touches it till it become very red. Yes, it's very unique.
0:28:42 > 0:28:46Ai Weiwei's father died in 1996.
0:28:46 > 0:28:48By that time, he'd resumed his role
0:28:48 > 0:28:50as a distinguished literary figure
0:28:50 > 0:28:53and one of China's greatest modern poets,
0:28:53 > 0:28:56embraced by the establishment.
0:28:56 > 0:28:58His last words to his son
0:28:58 > 0:29:02were a plea for him to make his home in China.
0:29:02 > 0:29:06I absolutely have no feeling about China.
0:29:06 > 0:29:12That's why my father said to me you should take it as your home.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15You shouldn't been so polite and courteous - it's your home,
0:29:15 > 0:29:17and do whatever you like.
0:29:35 > 0:29:40Having decided to stay, Ai Weiwei set up a studio in Beijing.
0:29:40 > 0:29:45Fascinated by China's pre-revolution history, its cultural traditions
0:29:45 > 0:29:50and craft skills, he found ways to incorporate these into his work.
0:29:52 > 0:29:58I want to antiquate it, as I want really to touch those objects.
0:30:00 > 0:30:05So, it takes me about six years to really study every aspect
0:30:05 > 0:30:11and how history has moved through the shapes and the technology
0:30:11 > 0:30:13and the craftmanships.
0:30:13 > 0:30:15He likes to take iconic objects,
0:30:15 > 0:30:20objects that in some ways are deeply valued by Chinese people,
0:30:20 > 0:30:23either for kind of cultural reasons or for just simple practical reasons.
0:30:23 > 0:30:25Then he'll obviously treat it
0:30:25 > 0:30:28with a kind of flamboyant disregard for its value.
0:30:36 > 0:30:42This series of works come from late '90s.
0:30:42 > 0:30:47I started to reconstruct of the classic furniture,
0:30:47 > 0:30:51so kind of Ming-style furnitures,
0:30:51 > 0:30:59but the most unique quality is I'll construct without nails.
0:31:02 > 0:31:04He would cut the four legged table in half,
0:31:04 > 0:31:06and he would put two legs on the wall
0:31:06 > 0:31:09and two legs on the ground and he'd have craftsmen
0:31:09 > 0:31:11put the table back together again
0:31:11 > 0:31:14as though it were made in the Ming Dynasty. So it was beautiful.
0:31:14 > 0:31:16Is this decorative art?
0:31:16 > 0:31:18Is this conceptual art?
0:31:18 > 0:31:20Is this kitsch? What is this?
0:31:23 > 0:31:28In the period of cultural revolution we would destroy everything.
0:31:28 > 0:31:32If you really destroy something, you have to really know
0:31:32 > 0:31:38and understand that, so make the whole act become very graceful.
0:31:38 > 0:31:46And, so the origin of the new thing can co-exist in the new body.
0:31:47 > 0:31:50So, that creates some kind of tension and power.
0:31:50 > 0:31:57When Ai Weiwei dropped a Hang vase it's the idea of the breaking
0:31:57 > 0:32:02of a vessel as if the vessel embodies and contains history.
0:32:02 > 0:32:06There'd been the cultural revolution, lots and lots of
0:32:06 > 0:32:11old things, things which had seemed to have value were destroyed.
0:32:11 > 0:32:17And following it, China went through this enormous change of industrialisation.
0:32:17 > 0:32:22By dropping the urn in 1995, Ai Weiwei was essentially creating
0:32:22 > 0:32:26a cenotaph, a tomb of a sort of an unknown soldier.
0:32:26 > 0:32:29He was dropping one urn to draw attention
0:32:29 > 0:32:32to the many others that were being destroyed around him every day.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40You have this urn coated in this industrial paint.
0:32:44 > 0:32:49The forms of the original object still exist, but are obscured.
0:32:51 > 0:32:53And this sort of gauche covering
0:32:53 > 0:32:56seems out of place but is the reality.
0:32:56 > 0:33:01And I think that's exactly how he sees the state in which he lives.
0:33:10 > 0:33:14The new millennium was a turning point for contemporary art in China.
0:33:14 > 0:33:18Shanghai held an International Biennale for the first time
0:33:18 > 0:33:22and alongside it were several fringe events,
0:33:22 > 0:33:27including a show curated by Ai Weiwei and Feng Boyi.
0:33:27 > 0:33:32The exhibition's Chinese title can be translated
0:33:32 > 0:33:33as Uncooperative Attitude,
0:33:33 > 0:33:36but the English name given was simply, Fuck Off.
0:34:01 > 0:34:09This man says "burn his personal identity code on his back".
0:34:10 > 0:34:13A lot of...
0:34:13 > 0:34:16quite extreme activities.
0:35:07 > 0:35:11The Games are awarded to the city of...Beijing.
0:35:11 > 0:35:14APPLAUSE
0:35:14 > 0:35:16SHOUTING
0:35:16 > 0:35:20It was ironic that an artist so closely associated with the avant-garde
0:35:20 > 0:35:24should find himself involved with a spectacular project
0:35:24 > 0:35:26at the heart of the Chinese establishment.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33The Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium,
0:35:33 > 0:35:35designed by Ai Weiwei in collaboration with
0:35:35 > 0:35:37Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron,
0:35:37 > 0:35:40was the centrepiece of the Games.
0:35:44 > 0:35:47It was the culmination of another strand of Ai Weiwei's work
0:35:47 > 0:35:49as an architect.
0:35:49 > 0:35:51For although he has no formal training,
0:35:51 > 0:35:53he's designed many buildings.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59He, at that moment, discovered architecture, and I think
0:35:59 > 0:36:04his connection to architecture is very fascinating because today,
0:36:04 > 0:36:07he is one of the leading architects in China.
0:36:07 > 0:36:11He's part of architecture exhibitions.
0:36:12 > 0:36:14So, the architecture and design world
0:36:14 > 0:36:18have very much embraced him both in China but also wider, in Asia.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24Is there something different about his work which characterises it,
0:36:24 > 0:36:27because he doesn't have a formal architectural training?
0:36:27 > 0:36:30It's simple, but it's very subtle. I think spatially,
0:36:30 > 0:36:34it's extremely interesting. Not just in...
0:36:34 > 0:36:37the way that the internal spaces work,
0:36:37 > 0:36:42but also the way the outside spaces are unpredictable
0:36:42 > 0:36:44and have some of the tightness,
0:36:44 > 0:36:46the compression of parts of China,
0:36:46 > 0:36:52almost like some of the urban spaces in microcosm.
0:36:52 > 0:36:55Yes, very personal and very human.
0:36:57 > 0:36:58The way, for example,
0:36:58 > 0:37:02that he uses brick and creates extraordinary patterns.
0:37:02 > 0:37:07He has a very distinctive style.
0:37:12 > 0:37:14But having played a crucial role
0:37:14 > 0:37:16in designing the Bird's Nest stadium,
0:37:16 > 0:37:18Ai Weiwei distanced himself from the project,
0:37:18 > 0:37:21criticising the use of the Olympics
0:37:21 > 0:37:25by the Chinese government as propaganda.
0:37:26 > 0:37:30He uses the publicity he gets in a very knowing way
0:37:30 > 0:37:33and he uses exhibitions and projects
0:37:33 > 0:37:39like the Bird's Nest stadium as a platform to be visible
0:37:39 > 0:37:42and to be able, if you like, to turn them against themselves.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45And that's extremely interesting
0:37:45 > 0:37:49and a very sophisticated way of being an artist.
0:37:49 > 0:37:53He has loyalty ultimately only to himself.
0:37:53 > 0:37:57I mean, to his project, and that's not a criticism.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01What I'm saying is that he operates without fear or favour
0:38:01 > 0:38:06and he is basically interested in producing art.
0:38:06 > 0:38:10He's made money, he's lost money,
0:38:10 > 0:38:14he basically takes his own money and pours it back into his studio.
0:38:14 > 0:38:17I don't think he's an especially good businessman.
0:38:17 > 0:38:23He is, in all these various ways, kind of uninterested in the broader
0:38:23 > 0:38:26experience of being an artist beyond what it actually means to make art.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31Do you believe that art
0:38:31 > 0:38:36can communicate and engage with ordinary people as well?
0:38:36 > 0:38:38As well as using ordinary people's experience,
0:38:38 > 0:38:43are you a believer in connecting with lots of people?
0:38:43 > 0:38:45Um, yes. I think...
0:38:45 > 0:38:49the only one art has...
0:38:49 > 0:38:54the connecting to the ordinary feelings,
0:38:54 > 0:38:57or ordinary common sense,
0:38:57 > 0:39:00it becomes most powerful.
0:39:07 > 0:39:11DOG BARKS
0:39:24 > 0:39:29South of Beijing is Jingdezhen, the home of Chinese porcelain,
0:39:29 > 0:39:34and the centre of ceramic production for over one thousand years.
0:39:34 > 0:39:37Many of the inhabitants work in the industry,
0:39:37 > 0:39:41in a city where even the street lights are made from ceramic.
0:39:50 > 0:39:55Jingdezhen was the imperial town for some 500 years
0:39:55 > 0:39:56and was...
0:39:56 > 0:39:59drastically impacted in the early 1990s,
0:39:59 > 0:40:02when the state-owned porcelain workshops shut down,
0:40:02 > 0:40:06and suddenly, you had thousands of craftsmen
0:40:06 > 0:40:09who had to fend for themselves with nothing to their names.
0:40:12 > 0:40:17The only reason great craftsmanship has been preserved as well as it has
0:40:17 > 0:40:23is that there is a thriving market for fake reproductions
0:40:23 > 0:40:27of famous vessels from, say the Ming and Qing that actually,
0:40:27 > 0:40:30this tendency in contemporary China
0:40:30 > 0:40:33to counterfeit things and pass them off as real
0:40:33 > 0:40:35has functioned to preserve
0:40:35 > 0:40:39an otherwise doomed set of workmen skills.
0:40:42 > 0:40:46Ai Weiwei is visiting his old friend, Mr Liu,
0:40:46 > 0:40:48who owns this ceramic workshop.
0:40:48 > 0:40:52Many of Ai Weiwei's porcelain art works are made here,
0:40:52 > 0:40:55from the finest Jingdezhen clay.
0:41:51 > 0:41:56They use this stone to make the body of porcelain, also the clays.
0:41:56 > 0:41:59So one...and mix porcelain,
0:41:59 > 0:42:05it comes out a very special colour and a special density in there.
0:42:07 > 0:42:12This is the best quality, if you talking about Chinese porcelain.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15This is the highest quality you can get.
0:42:45 > 0:42:52After you...get the rocks delivered to here,
0:42:52 > 0:42:54you put in this watermill,
0:42:54 > 0:42:58and, er, to really crash the stone.
0:43:03 > 0:43:05It takes so long
0:43:05 > 0:43:12to...to really make it to be...
0:43:12 > 0:43:14very fine powder.
0:43:33 > 0:43:36For the past two years, Ai Weiwei
0:43:36 > 0:43:40has been overseeing the production of porcelain sunflower seeds.
0:43:40 > 0:43:44These will go towards making the final installation
0:43:44 > 0:43:47at Tate Modern's Turbine Hall.
0:43:47 > 0:43:50He has employed over 1,600 local artisans.
0:44:22 > 0:44:26To be able to bring together this community, getting a whole village
0:44:26 > 0:44:30and to get this kind of spirit, I think is quite extraordinary.
0:44:30 > 0:44:34And when you look at it, and if you put it next to a sunflower seed,
0:44:34 > 0:44:37it's almost impossible, visually, to tell it apart.
0:44:42 > 0:44:43During the cultural revolution
0:44:43 > 0:44:48and when Weiwei and his father had to go in exile,
0:44:48 > 0:44:52there was almost nothing to eat. Many, many, many more millions
0:44:52 > 0:44:56Chinese, they lived off these sunflower seeds.
0:44:56 > 0:45:00Now, Ai Weiwei decided to create almost a monument
0:45:00 > 0:45:05for this part of Chinese history which has to do with the multitude,
0:45:05 > 0:45:09which has to do with poverty, but which has to do
0:45:09 > 0:45:12also with transformation, because we can overcome.
0:45:15 > 0:45:19First, you make moulds,
0:45:19 > 0:45:23hundreds of moulds...
0:45:23 > 0:45:27Then you compress this kind of mud,
0:45:27 > 0:45:31almost like liquid chocolate, into it,
0:45:31 > 0:45:34to let it dry,
0:45:34 > 0:45:40and then take it out with your hand to fix each individual.
0:45:40 > 0:45:43Then, just put in the oven
0:45:43 > 0:45:47at 1,300 degree. Then...
0:45:47 > 0:45:53start paint on both sides, four or five strokes,
0:45:53 > 0:45:55and putting in the oven again.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06And, yes. The sunflower seeds are made by God,
0:46:06 > 0:46:13but this is made really by hands of the people, one by one.
0:46:18 > 0:46:232½ years in the making, having travelled over 5,000 miles,
0:46:23 > 0:46:25from Jingdezhen to London,
0:46:25 > 0:46:30the seeds are finally installed at Tate Modern's Turbine Hall.
0:46:42 > 0:46:45It's amazing.
0:46:48 > 0:46:50They're beautiful things.
0:46:50 > 0:46:52First of all, in terms of the porcelain,
0:46:52 > 0:46:56is this where the Ming vase tradition comes from as well?
0:46:56 > 0:47:00- Yes.- Is the process the same? - Same, exactly same.
0:47:00 > 0:47:03And why did you choose these sunflower seeds?
0:47:03 > 0:47:07When we grew up in a socialist society...
0:47:07 > 0:47:10for probably this only...
0:47:10 > 0:47:16pleasure we could get is to have pocket...full.
0:47:16 > 0:47:20- A pocketful of these? - Yes. We always like,
0:47:20 > 0:47:22if we talk, I would give you some
0:47:22 > 0:47:25and we start to eat the sunflower seeds.
0:47:25 > 0:47:29Actually, many Chinese, their front tooth,
0:47:29 > 0:47:33always leave a mark, because you're eating that.
0:47:33 > 0:47:36You'll have like little cracks here, because you...
0:47:36 > 0:47:39I don't have it, but a lot of people have it.
0:47:39 > 0:47:43Why a hundred million, is there a reason for a hundred million?
0:47:43 > 0:47:46Relate to the history and to...
0:47:46 > 0:47:50to many, many different issues. You know, mass production...
0:47:50 > 0:47:51Yes, I was just thinking about this.
0:47:51 > 0:47:54- Because China's full. - China is full of mass production.
0:47:54 > 0:48:00China's history, even recent history of course, is all about reproduction
0:48:00 > 0:48:01and mass production, and yet,
0:48:01 > 0:48:05of course, the irony here is that each of these is individually made.
0:48:05 > 0:48:08- Yes...- It's not mass produced at all.- Yes.
0:48:08 > 0:48:15I think this is number, but only one sixteenth of China's population.
0:48:15 > 0:48:17It's kind of hard to walk.
0:48:17 > 0:48:19It's really like sand.
0:48:19 > 0:48:25Yes. Well, again, this is very much a physical experience.
0:48:25 > 0:48:29Yeah. Always have to come out with, er,
0:48:29 > 0:48:33your own individual interpretation.
0:49:09 > 0:49:12They're all handmade, aren't they? Each one, or something.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15- No, they're not?!- In this country? - By...
0:49:15 > 0:49:18- loads of Chinese people? That's incredible.- Mm.
0:49:18 > 0:49:21That makes it that much more special, I guess.
0:49:26 > 0:49:29Do you think I can take one home?
0:49:31 > 0:49:33The kids have just loved it here.
0:49:33 > 0:49:36They've sort of been playing around building almost like sand castles.
0:49:36 > 0:49:38I tried digging to the bottom of it and I couldn't.
0:49:38 > 0:49:41It's almost like being at the seaside.
0:49:41 > 0:49:45Everybody's sitting around burying themselves in these seeds.
0:49:47 > 0:49:49WOMAN LAUGHS
0:49:49 > 0:49:50Usually, I'd be with my sisters,
0:49:50 > 0:49:53and they'd probably end up burying me.
0:49:53 > 0:49:56Something totally relaxing out of something which is hard,
0:49:56 > 0:49:59yet soft, when you get to grips with it.
0:50:01 > 0:50:06It makes you think. Absolutely makes you think.
0:50:06 > 0:50:07It's quite nostalgic, I guess.
0:50:07 > 0:50:11Everybody of all ages are like... want to straightaway pick it up.
0:50:11 > 0:50:14And you remember all those happy memories out playing with your friends,
0:50:14 > 0:50:16with your parents, or...
0:50:16 > 0:50:19Yeah, it sends you back to younger times, where everything was simple,
0:50:19 > 0:50:22you know, you can just sit there for hours on end
0:50:22 > 0:50:23and not worry about time, or...
0:50:54 > 0:50:57Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:50:57 > 0:51:00E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk