What do you think?
Rate this book
#aiww: the Arrest of Ai Weiwei
On 3 April 2011, as he was boarding a flight to Taipei, the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was arrested at Beijing Airport. Advised merely that his travel “could damage state security”, he was escorted to a van by officials, after which he disappeared for eighty-one days. On his release, the government claimed that his imprisonment related to tax evasion.
Howard Brenton's play is based on Ai Weiwei's account in Barnaby Martin's book Hanging Man, in which he told the story of that imprisonment - by turns surreal, hilarious, and terrifying. A portrait of the artist in extreme conditions, it is also an affirmation of the centrality of art and freedom of speech in civilised society.
Howard Brenton's play is based on Ai Weiwei's account in Barnaby Martin's book Hanging Man, in which he told the story of that imprisonment - by turns surreal, hilarious, and terrifying. A portrait of the artist in extreme conditions, it is also an affirmation of the centrality of art and freedom of speech in civilised society.
72 pages, Paperback
First published April 11, 2013
13 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 15, 2025
Based on the arrest of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, the play explores the theme of expression in art. The artist faces interrogation for his choice of subject and his intention. The stilted dialogue and repetition mirrors his time in detention where one day blends into another and the same questions continue.
The question to ask is that if art is about perception and interpretation, isn't it those who proclaim its intention to dissent more at fault than the artist?
The question to ask is that if art is about perception and interpretation, isn't it those who proclaim its intention to dissent more at fault than the artist?
August 2, 2013
The Arrest of Ai Weiwei by Howard Brenton is based on Ai Weiwei's own account of his arrest and detention, told in
Hanging Man The Arrest of Ai Weiwei
by Barnaby Martin.
On 3rd April 2011, noted Chinese artist and outspoken critic of the Communist Party, Ai Weiwei was arrested as he was boarding a flight to Taipei. Told his travel could "damage state security", he was then imprisoned incommunicado for eighty-one days. On his release the government stated his imprisonment was related to tax evasion.
Brenton's script takes this harrowing eighty-one days as its basis to explore and portray the attack on freedom of expression the artist suffered while simultaneously engaging the audience in the political discussion relating to Ai Weiwei's art, and the meaning and purpose of art. Two scenes, invented by Brenton, discuss the political ramifications of Ai Weiwei's imprisonment and give an interesting illumination into the workings of the secretive Party hierarchy.
Altogether, this play is a powerful piece of art that explores the meaning and politicisation of art, particularly in China. The final scene, Ai Weiwei's monologue to the audience, decries the lack of social change in China, for without that there can be no true freedom of art.
On 3rd April 2011, noted Chinese artist and outspoken critic of the Communist Party, Ai Weiwei was arrested as he was boarding a flight to Taipei. Told his travel could "damage state security", he was then imprisoned incommunicado for eighty-one days. On his release the government stated his imprisonment was related to tax evasion.
Brenton's script takes this harrowing eighty-one days as its basis to explore and portray the attack on freedom of expression the artist suffered while simultaneously engaging the audience in the political discussion relating to Ai Weiwei's art, and the meaning and purpose of art. Two scenes, invented by Brenton, discuss the political ramifications of Ai Weiwei's imprisonment and give an interesting illumination into the workings of the secretive Party hierarchy.
Altogether, this play is a powerful piece of art that explores the meaning and politicisation of art, particularly in China. The final scene, Ai Weiwei's monologue to the audience, decries the lack of social change in China, for without that there can be no true freedom of art.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews