Ai Weiwei: We are forgetting human rights. And the climate is like the 1930s

In an interview with the British newspaper The Guardian by Kate Connolly, Ai Weiwei spoke on the topic of human rights: in fact, the Chinese artist was invited by some arts and other human rights associations to design a flag to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights (which was adopted on December 10, 1948). More info on the project can be found at http://flytheflag.org.uk. Ai Weiwei drew a large blue flag with the white imprint of a human foot. “It is the footprint,” he explained in the interview, “of some of the children, women and youth of the Rohingya people who, barefoot, had been forced by the Myanmar army to leave their lands and take refuge in Bangladesh. Obviously it is very difficult to draw something to illustrate an abstract and challenging concept. But I thought a print would symbolize anyone who was forced to flee, in Africa, in Afghanistan, in Bangladesh. There is nothing more human than a footprint.”

Ai Weiwei argues in the interview that understanding of human rights is eroding. “Fewer and fewer people are talking about human rights since the end of the Cold War. And they increasingly see human rights in a negative way. People, in England and everywhere in the better-off parts of the world, fail to understand that the way they live can affect the way someone else in the world lives.” And he gives a practical example: “iPhones are made in China because that country has joined the game of capitalism and plays it very well. But those who make the phones don’t enjoy basic rights and areos modern keys who end up throwing themselves out of factory windows. Those who buy phones should have a greater sense of responsibility and involvement.”

The artist has lived in Berlin for some time and also spoke on the situation in Germany, particularly the relationship with migrants. “The Germans say I should be grateful to them because I am a refugee and they paid for my life. This is the climate in Germany today, and there are signs on the streets saying, ’We can make our own children, we don’t need foreigners.’ And this is the climate in much of Europe, including the United Kingdom. It’s very scary because this moment somehow reflects the 1930s.”

Pictured is Ai Weiwei with his new work, the flag for human rights. Ph. Credit Camilla Greenwell

Ai Weiwei: We are forgetting human rights. And the climate is like the 1930s

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