Legend has it that Yellow Emperor Huangdi (黃帝) arrived on Earth after his mother was struck by lightning. He ruled for 100 years and established the pillars of civilization, including language, currency, construction, agriculture and medicine. At the end of his time on Earth, Huáng Dì rode a dragon into the sky to take his place at the centre of a five-faceted deity – responsible for the material world.
This is one of many tales that connect dragons with emperors and immortality in Chinese mythology. It encapsulates the unmatched power that a dragon represents.
All good. All knowing. All powerful.
Dragon Vase, 2017
For Ai Weiwei, however, the dragon’s power is not confined to the godlike power of an emperor. Instead, the power of the dragon exists within us all.
Everyone possesses this power. Everyone is a dragon.
Ai Weiwei
It can be easy to take our human rights for granted. For Ai Weiwei, it is not. As a child during the Cultural Revolution in China, Weiwei was exiled with his family to Xinjiang province because his father, beloved poet Ai Qing, was considered an enemy of the state. Following in his father’s footsteps, Weiwei has become a vocal critic of the Chinese government and Western powers. Along the way, he has had to fight for freedom of movement, expression and thought.
Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads (gold), 2010
On 3 April 2011, Weiwei was secretly detained by Chinese authorities at Beijing Capital International Airport. While this wasn't the first time his freedom had been threatened, it was part of the most severe crackdown on free speech in China for many years. Numerous critics, activists, lawyers and writers were also targeted.
Weiwei was held for 81 days. Guards watched him around the clock. He recounts the experience in his written and graphic memoirs – 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows and Zodiac. After being released, Weiwei remained under soft detention and his passport was not returned. Two years later, he began preparation for a major show at an unlikely location – notorious decommissioned prison, Alcatraz.
We take jail as a metaphor. Alcatraz particularly. It's a place for people to understand prison conditions.
Ai Weiwei
Trace, 2014
For seven months, Weiwei and his team researched political prisoners from around the world and created Lego portraits of each incarcerated figure. As they worked from Weiwei's studio in Beijing (the same one that was searched in 2011) the project was kept secret so authorities did not catch wind of its politically-charged nature.
The finished portraits were transported to Alcatraz along with a monumental dragon inspired by traditional Chinese papercraft. Weiwei was unable to travel with them.
I don’t have my passport, and there is no explanation why and for how long, so it gives tremendous difficulty to the process. At the same time, our show is about freedom, ironically.
Ai Weiwei
An excerpt from Weiwei's graphic memoir, Zodiac
The dragon, for Weiwei, encapsulates freedom. The dragon is a counterpoint to incarceration. The dragon embodies the kind of power that’s held within, not the kind that’s imposed on others.
The dragon is freedom.
Freedom is power.
Power is the dragon.
The dragon is within us all.
With Wind, 2014
Limited edition silkscreen print
Our latest collaboration with Weiwei was created to mark the year of the dragon in the Chinese Zodiac. The elaborate silkscreen combines inspiration from the exhibition he staged on Alcatraz and his iconic Lego portraits. Everyone is a dragon is a symbol of what it means to hold power within yourself, even in the face of adversity.
Zodiac
In his graphic memoir, Weiwei considers not only the dragon, but all twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac. Riffing on their associated human characteristics, he weaves myth and folklore through his own life story – reflecting on artistic expression and intellectual freedom.
