{"id":148928,"date":"2024-02-21T20:12:56","date_gmt":"2024-02-21T20:12:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/?p=148928"},"modified":"2024-02-21T20:12:56","modified_gmt":"2024-02-21T20:12:56","slug":"ai-weiwei-says-censorship-in-west-has-become-exactly-the-same-as-in-mao-zedongs-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/ai-weiwei-says-censorship-in-west-has-become-exactly-the-same-as-in-mao-zedongs-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Ai Weiwei says censorship in West has become \u2018exactly the same\u2019 as in Mao Zedong\u2019s China"},"content":{"rendered":"

Political censorship in the West today is \u201cexactly the same<\/em>\u201d as it was in China under leader Mao Zedong, artist Ai Weiwei has said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The 66-year-old told Sky<\/em>\u2019s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips<\/em> that \u201csociety becomes so timid, to really avoid any kind of questioning or argument<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n

He was responding to a question about the cancellation of his exhibition by the Lisson Gallery in London in November following his posts on virtual communication networks regarding the Israel-Gaza conflict.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up within this heavy political censorship<\/em>,\u201d Weiwei said, referring to the exile of his own family when he was one year old.<\/p>\n

\u201cI realise now, today, in the West, you are doing exactly the same<\/em>,\u201d the activist and documentarian added.<\/p>\n

Criticising the suspension of two New York University professors for comments related to Gaza, Weiwei said: \u201cThis is really like a cultural revolution, which is really trying to destroy anybody who have different attitudes, not even a clear opinion.<\/em><\/p>\n

So I think that this is such a pity, that it occurred in the West, so broadly in universities, in media, in every location.<\/em><\/p>\n

In universities or political sector \u2013 everywhere \u2013 you cannot talk about the truth.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Weiwei\u2019s art often addresses political issues in China and the artist has a history of openly criticising the Beijing government\u2019s stance on human rights and democracy.<\/p>\n

When asked whether he believed Western artists were doing enough to defend freedom of expression, Weiwei said they had been \u201ccorrupted by capitalism<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are just seeking money and also to be famous<\/em>,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

In 2011, the artist was arrested at Beijing Capital International Airport and detained for 81 days. He left China in 2015 and has not returned since.<\/p>\n

Weiwei said he \u201cnever regrets<\/em>\u201d speaking out.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI\u2019m defending a value which would profit and benefit everybody<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy little experience does not really matter, but rather I somewhat need to speak out<\/em>,\u201d Weiwei added.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn artist has the responsibility to do that<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weiwei\u2019s graphic memoir, Zodiac<\/em>, was published by Penguin Random House at the end of January.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

yogaesoteric
\nFebruary 21, 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Political censorship in the West today is \u201cexactly the same\u201d as it was in China under leader Mao Zedong, artist Ai Weiwei has said. The 66-year-old told Sky\u2019s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips that \u201csociety becomes so timid, to really avoid any kind of questioning or argument\u201d. He was responding to a question about the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[382],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-148928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinions-1602-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148928"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":148932,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148928\/revisions\/148932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}