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Ai Weiwei, L'art Et L'activism

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Ai Weiwei, L'art Et L'activism Document généré le 1 oct. 2021 15:43 esse arts + opinions --> Voir l’erratum concernant cet article The Politics of Indignation: Art, Activism and Ai Weiwei La politique de l’indignation : Ai Weiwei, l’art et l’activisme Alice Ming Wai Jim Indignation Numéro 77, hiver 2013 URI : https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/68368ac Aller au sommaire du numéro Éditeur(s) Les éditions esse ISSN 0831-859X (imprimé) 1929-3577 (numérique) Découvrir la revue Citer cet article Jim, A. M. W. (2013). The Politics of Indignation: Art, Activism and Ai Weiwei / La politique de l’indignation : Ai Weiwei, l’art et l’activisme. esse arts + opinions, (77), 46–54. Tous droits réservés © Alice Ming Wai Jim, 2013 Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d’auteur. L’utilisation des services d’Érudit (y compris la reproduction) est assujettie à sa politique d’utilisation que vous pouvez consulter en ligne. https://apropos.erudit.org/fr/usagers/politique-dutilisation/ Cet article est diffusé et préservé par Érudit. Érudit est un consortium interuniversitaire sans but lucratif composé de l’Université de Montréal, l’Université Laval et l’Université du Québec à Montréal. Il a pour mission la promotion et la valorisation de la recherche. https://www.erudit.org/fr/ INDIGNATION Ai Weiwei, Study of Perspective - Tiananmen, 1995. photo : Ai Weiwei 46 INDIGNATION Ai Weiwei (Beijing, 1957-) est un symbole vivant de la lutte pour les droits A symbol of the struggle for human rights, renowned artist, architect, and de la personne. Artiste, architecte et activiste réputé, il est devenu activist Ai Weiwei (b. Beijing, 1957) has become a global figure despite being une personnalité planétaire malgré son confinement en sol chinois. En forbidden to travel outside China. In May 2012 he was one of three dis- mai 2012, il faisait partie des trois récipiendaires du prix Václav-Havel sidents awarded the New York-based Human Rights Foundation’s inaugural de la dissidence créative accordé par la fondation Human Rights, et en Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent, and in October his first survey exhib- octobre, la première rétrospective consacrée à son œuvre aux États-Unis, ition in the U.S., According to What?, opened at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn According to What?, prenait l’affiche au musée Hirshhorn de l'institut Museum in Washington, D.C. Ai did not attend the opening, however; his Smithsonian. Au vernissage, Ai brillait toutefois par son absence, son passport has been held by Chinese authorities since his detainment in April passeport étant retenu par les autorités chinoises depuis sa détention 2011 and subsequent year-long house arrest on allegations of tax evasion. d’avril 2011 et sa subséquente assignation à demeure, sur des allégations In China, the charge of economic crime is the choice pretext of the d’évasion fiscale. state to pre-empt accusations of human rights violations. Ai’s incarcera- En Chine, l’inculpation pour crime économique est le prétexte tion is widely known to be related to his many previous run-ins with state habituel de l’État pour parer les accusations de violation des droits de la security over his outspoken criticism, both online and off, of government personne, et il est notoire que l’incarcération d’Ai est liée à ses démêlés corruption and China’s suppression of freedom of expression. As Michael avec la sécurité d’État au sujet de ses critiques cinglantes, en ligne et hors Wines of The New York Times put it: “Ai Weiwei is perhaps China’s most ligne, de la corruption du gouvernement et de la répression de la liberté famous living artist and its most vociferous domestic critic, titles of a sort d’expression. Selon Michael Wines, du New York Times : « Ai Weiwei est this committed iconoclast disdains.”1 “Maybe I’m just an undercover artist sans doute le plus célèbre des artistes chinois vivants et le critique le in the disguise of a dissident” the contrary artist has said, “I couldn’t care plus véhément du système – titres de gloire pour lesquels cet iconoclaste less about the implications.”2 If there were an artiste indigné célèbre,” Ai engagé n’a que du mépris1. » « Je suis peut-être juste un artiste dissimulé would be the man of the hour. sous les traits d’un dissident, a déjà déclaré le contestataire : je me fiche Ai’s high profile has often detracted from a deeper understanding des conséquences2. » Si l’on devait désigner un indigné célèbre parmi les of his art and activism as implicitly linked to the phenomenon of social artistes, ce serait lui, sans l’ombre d’un doute. media in the digital age. Ai has embraced the Internet and social media as Or, la grande visibilité d’Ai Weiwei a souvent nui à la compréhen- expressive platforms in both his art practice and political activism, and has sion du lien qui unit ses œuvres et son activisme récents au phénomène been writing about judicial procedures and state affairs on his personal des médias sociaux propre à l’ère du numérique. Depuis 2005 en effet, blog since 2005. Ai se sert d’Internet et des médias sociaux comme lieux d’expression, The unprecedented participation of 1,001 Chinese citizens from dif- tant dans sa pratique artistique que dans son militantisme politique, ferent backgrounds and regions of China, who travelled (fully subsidized) to et commente les procédures judiciaires et les affaires de l’État sur son Kassel, Germany, for documenta 12 (2007) as part of Ai’s ongoing Fairytale blogue personnel. Project, came about through an open invitation published on his blog. As the La participation sans précédent de 1 001 citoyens chinois issus Chinese consultant to the Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron for de différents milieux et de différentes régions du pays, qui se sont the design of the Bird’s Nest stadium for the 2008 Olympics, Ai was cata- rendus, tous frais payés, à Kassel en Allemagne à la foire documenta 12 pulted into the international spotlight and placed under closer scrutiny by (2007), dans le contexte du Fairytale Project d’Ai, est née d’une invita- the authorities when he openly denigrated the games as state propaganda tion ouverte publiée sur son blogue. Ai, qui a été le consultant chinois machinery and stated publicly that he regretted participating in the project. auprès de Herzog & de Meuron, la société suisse responsable du design du Ai continued denouncing state corruption upon discovering that Stade national des Jeux olympiques de 2008 (le fameux « Nid d’oiseau »), among the dead of the more than eighty-six thousand people killed dur- s’est retrouvé brusquement au centre de l’attention internationale – et ing the Sichuan Earthquake on May 12, 2008, were over five thousand placé sous étroite surveillance par les autorités de son pays – quand il a schoolchildren buried alive in their classrooms because of “tofu-dreg ouvertement dénoncé les jeux comme étant une machine de propagande schoolhouses” — the poorly constructed buildings indicating corruption and gouvernementale et déclaré publiquement qu’il regrettait d’avoir pris negligence. The Chinese government’s lack of accountability and its refusal part à ce projet. to disclose the death tolls or the students’ identities fuelled Ai to collabor- Il a dénoncé encore la corruption de son gouvernement en apprenant ate with grassroots activists and volunteers in a citizens’ investigation to que parmi les quatre-vingt-six mille victimes du séisme du Sichuan, le research and post the names of the perished on his blog, the online platform 12 mai 2008, se trouvaient plus de cinq mille élèves du primaire enterrés for the campaign. Remarkably, the blog was left alone for four months but vivants dans leurs écoles « en miettes de tofu », ces constructions de the quake’s first anniversary in 2009 saw Ai’s blog entries systematically qualité médiocre, preuves de corruption et de négligence. Le refus du censored and deleted by the Public Security Bureau. This however has not gouvernement chinois de rendre des comptes et de révéler le bilan des deterred the efforts of Ai and his collaborators to gain the most basic level morts ou l’identité des jeunes victimes ont poussé Ai à collaborer avec of respect for the deceased. “The most fundamental worth and civil right des activistes et des bénévoles sur le terrain à une « enquête citoyenne », of any person is their right to their name.”3 dans le but de trouver les noms des disparus et de les afficher sur son As the list of student earthquake victims grew on the wall of his blogue, devenu tribune virtuelle de cette campagne. Assez exceptionnel- Beijing studio, Ai became a committed political microblogger, made docu- lement, Ai a pu tenir son blogue pendant quatre mois sans être inquiété mentaries, was featured in Alison Klayman’s Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (2012), par les autorités ; mais le premier anniversaire du séisme, en 2009, a and created multiple pieces to commemorate and bring awareness to the marqué le début de la censure et de la destruction systématiques, par le school disaster. Cong (2008 – 2011), for instance, featured the list of victims’ Bureau de sécurité publique, des billets publiés par Ai. Cela n’a pas décou- ragé, toutefois, ses efforts et ceux de ses collaborateurs pour obtenir le 1. Michael Wines, “China’s Impolitic Artist, Still Waiting to Be Silenced,” New York Times, 27 November 2009, www.nytimes.com/2009/11/28/world/asia/28weiwei.html? 1. Michael Wines, « China’s Impolitic Artist, Still Waiting to Be Silenced », New York pagewanted=all&_r=0. Times, 27 novembre 2009, www.nytimes.com/2009/11/28/world/asia/28weiwei.html ? 2.
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