Chinese Artist Ai Weiwei Is Finally Free
After four years, artist Ai Weiwei is finally free to get the hell out of China.
The government spent more than 600 days confining Weiwei to China over alleged tax evasion violations and reportedly returned the famous artist’s passport without explanation Wednesday.
It’s still unclear why Weiwei—a co-designer of the Olympics bird-nest structure who, in recent years, has remotely staged exhibitions in Washington D.C. and San Francisco—was finally given leave to travel, but he’s not exactly complaining. Via the New York Times:
He said on Wednesday that the authorities had given him no indication of why he had received his passport now. “I only can say why not? They have promised for the past four years to give it back. Now finally they gave it to me,” he said in a telephone interview. “They always say it’s in the process but I just need to be patient.”
Weiwei is reportedly applying for a visa to visit Germany, where his studio and six-year-old son both reside. Happy trails!
