I’ve been seeing a lot of year-end lists of the best films of 2012 and New York Magazine included a documentary called “Ai WeiWei: Never Sorry,” a film I had never heard of. Working in social media, it piqued my interest since the reviewer described it as a story of a man who uses “Twitter to drive a totalitarian government nuts.”
I did some research on the film and the story is quite compelling.
The film chronicles the life of artist Ai WeiWei, who in 2011 was named the most powerful artist in the world by ArtReview. As well as being a popular artist, he has become known as a political activist and intellectual critic from his use of social media- Twitter in particular—as a tool for spreading his many messages, often in defiance of the Chinese government.
Here’s a description of the film from the film’s website:
“Ai Weiwei is China’s most famous international artist, and its most outspoken domestic critic. Against a backdrop of strict censorship and an unresponsive legal system, Ai expresses himself and organizes people through art and social media. In response, Chinese authorities have shut down his blog, beat him up, bulldozed his newly built studio, and held him in secret detention.
Ai WeiWei:Never Sorry is the inside story of a dissident for the digital age who inspires global audiences and blurs the boundaries of art and politics. First-time director Alison Klayman gained unprecedented access to Ai while working as a journalist in China. Her detailed portrait provides a nuanced exploration of contemporary China and one of its most compelling public figures.”
In the trailer for the film, WeiWei declares that he believes “the most important medium of our time is Twitter.” Some people are even calling him the first “social media artist,” since he’s using the medium like no one has before him.
His mantra is “Don’t retreat, retweet.” After being imprisoned for 81 days last year, he was released on the condition that he would not speak to the media. He did not retreat. He took to his Twitter to express his opinions on the oppressive state of China’s government. Twitter allowed him the ability to speak without a filter and have his voice heard.
Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Blogspot and other social media sites have been blocked in China because the Communist Party of China deems these websites “detrimental to maintaining social peace and harmony.”
Chinese citizens, including WeiWei, use Internet tools to unblock the Firewall and gain access but China’s attempt to censor it’s citizens have empowered WeiWei to speak out. He even tweeted at Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter, to express his concerns.
For Ai WeiWei “the role of an artist is to be focused on communication, engagement, and furthering conversation.” Social media as a medium is used for precisely those reasons and it’s inspiring to see an artist using Twitter as a form of activism. We can learn a lot from this famed Chinese artist.
Here’s the trailer for the documentary below:
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