Born in Beijing, China, 1957. Lives and works in Beijing.

Ai Weiwei is one of the most provocative and substantial figures in today’s incredibly vibrant field of contemporary Chinese art. He has been active in a wide variety of creative endeavours, not only in art but also architecture, landscape design, enlivening the Chinese art scene and supporting his younger contemporaries. Fairytale, a project in which he arranged for 1001 Chinese citizens to attend the 2007 Documenta 12 in Kassel, first attracted widespread international attention to Ai, and his collaboration in the design of China’s Olympic Stadium –known as “the bird nest”– for the 2008 Beijing Olympics cemented his global reputation as a formidable creative force.

His artwork has been exhibited extensively in Australia, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, China, Japan, Korea and the United States in institutions such as Tate Modern, London (2010); Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2009); and Haus der Kunst, Munich (2009). He participated in the Venice Biennale, 1999; the Guangzhou Triennial, 2002; and the Sydney Biennial, 2006.