Ai Weiwei's Newest Art-Film Will See 'Over 600 hours' of Footage About the Refugee Crisi
- May 5, 2016
- 2 min read
At the start of the year, the Danish government’s decision to seize asylum seekers’ assets lead Chinese artist Ai Weiwei to pull out of two exhibitions opening in Copenhagen - one at the ARoS Aarhus Art Musuem and the other at Faurschou Foundation. A week later, Weiwei re-created the haunting image of a drowning infant, posing as Alan Kurdi, the Syrian three-year-old as a tribute to the crisis. His actions caused spectacle for debate, following by an outroar where some claimed insensitivity and an unrespectful step outside the boundaries of artistic provocation.
Having first hand witnessed the experiences onsite at refugee camps, Ai shared the importance of documenting and spreading the truth of the refugees fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East.
"It’s a documentary film, we have been shooting for over 600 hours, I did hundreds of interviews,” Weiwei told reporters at Bern’s Paul Klee museum. “The film is going to come out next year. Now we are still doing last [shoots] since the refugee situation is continuous, it doesn’t seem it is going to stop.” His visits to refugee camps are an aim to underline the ongoing crisis, followed suit by the likes of Angelina Jolie and Orlando Bloom.
Despite hard-hitting and often divisive statements behind Ai's works, European countries have increasingly turned their backs on those fleeing war-torn countries. The artist first visited Lesbos on Christmas Day in 2015, moving his studio locally shortly afterwards in order to be close to the people arriving in boats from Turkey and to speak with those already living in the camp.
Plans to release a film are expected to begin completion next year.
Photo: Rohit Chawla
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