Brighton Frstival – A Gathering For Ai Weiwei.
I understand this is a forum for artists to speak about their practice but I hope you’ll forgive me for deviating a little.
I would like to assemble a gathering of artists, arts workers, enthusiasts and others to participate as a group in Monica Ross’s ‘Anniversary – Acts of Memory” at Brighton Festival on Sunday 29 May by 2pm.
The gathering is in support of the artist Ai Weiwei currently being unlawfully detained by the Chinese government.
I plan to memorize and recite Article 9 and 19 from UDHR.
Article 9 – No one shall be subject to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
Article 19 – Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
I am hoping to provide free Jasmine tea – a small reference to the Jasmine revolution with which Ai is associated.
If wish to join me Please meet at the tea station.
It would be great to bring together as many participants together as possible. If you are a chinese speaker willing to memorize and recite these two Articles or if you are able to help in any other way Please, do get in touch.
Ai Weiwei’s whereabouts and condition are unknown and rumors of torture are circulating. See http://www.chinaaid.org/2011/04/tortured-by-police…
and http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/37649/ai-weiwei-…
He has been missing for more than 40 days now.
I find it hard to believe that with all the media and arts sector coverage the weight of the world can be so ineffective in aiding an individual (Ai is not the only one missing but he has received the most media coverage).
I do not know if Ai Weiwei has committed an offence (allegedly tax evasion is the crime ‘picked out’ in order to facilitate a means to silence him) but that is beside the point. More to the point is that the Chinese government according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and apparently according to their own law are illegally detaining Ai.
It would be easy to place Ai onto some form of pedestal but the point is that the means the Chinese government are employing are wrong regardless of the charge against Ai.
Please join me to stand in unison for Ai and against the Chinese government at the Old Bowling Green, Queens Park, Brighton on the 29th May from 3pm.
A link to Acts of Memory is posted below
http://www.actsofmemory.net/
Anniversary — an act of memory,
recitations from memory of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by Monica Ross and Co-Recitors
Brighton Festival 2011 Freedom Picnic, from 2pm, 29 MAY
Anniversary — an act of memory is a performance series in 60 acts focusing on the importance and relevance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Launched in December 2008 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Declaration, it features solo, collective and multi-lingual recitations from memory of the entire UDHR by Monica Ross and Co-Recitors. To date more than 200 people have memorised and recited articles in over 30 languages.
www.actsofmemory.net
www.youtube.com/actofmemory
www.brightonfestival.org
If you would like to memorize and recite a relevant article from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in a language of your choice please can you also let Rebecca Fidler at Brighton Festival know so that Rebecca can keep you posted as the form of the recitation develops; [email protected]
The Declaration is available in more than 370 languages from here http://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Pages/SearchByLang.aspx
I believe the detention of Ai Weiwei to be a form of kidnapping or hostage taking. The Ransom? Ai’s basic human rights and human dignity and maybe the rights and dignity of countless other Chinese artists.
