Posing nude

The harassment seems to be never-ending. Now, the Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei is up on pornography charges. The object of the authorities' investigation is a photograph entitled "One tiger, eight breasts" in which the naked artist sits among four naked women.

One of Ai's numerous assistants, Zhao Zhao, was summoned for questioning by the Beijing authorities last week and asked if he had taken the picture. "Yes," he replied. "Then they told me it was obscene and I asked them what could possibly be obscene about it."

They also asked him where the picture had been taken and what Internet sites it had been posted on, saying they would get in touch with him again. "The order apparently came from the top," he pointed out.

'Nudity is not pornography'

In a show of solidarity, dozens of Chinese activists have since posted nude photographs to a webpage set up by Ai Weiwei' supporters called awfannude.blogspot.com. The title reads: "Listen Chinese government, nudity is not pornography."

Nude photos have also been posted to the blog "Love Ai Weiwei" and to Twitter. There are all kinds of photos to ridicule the latest campaign against Ai Weiwei by the authorities. Some pictures are full-frontal and rather revealing, whereas others hide the protagonists’ private parts with the Chinese character for "love," which is pronounced "ai," or with pictures of the artist himself.

Supporters have also posted nude pictures of themselves as babies, or posed as Rodin’s "Thinker" or Michelangelo's "David." Some photographers have chosen to zoom in on backsides, whereas some protagonists clearly show their middle finger to the camera.

'Completely ridiculous'

Ai Weiwei, who said he had not taken the charges of pornography seriously until Zhao Zhao was pulled in for questioning, says they are "completely ridiculous."

"Our nation today is so corrupt, with so much sex, but they think nudity photos on the Internet is pornography," he added.

He told Deutsche Welle that anyone who wanted to ban this form of free expression should be ashamed. "That is what is obscene," he said adding that activists were constantly being exposed to such obscenities regardless of whether they were dressed or not.

In April, Ai Weiwei was arrested at Beijing's main airport and detained for 81 days. The reasons for his arrest were at first rather obscure, and then the artist’s studio was searched and his computer confiscated. Later, he was charged with tax evasion before finally being released on bail. At the beginning of November the authorities issued him with a notice to pay 15 million yuan (1.7 million euros / 2.4 million US dollars) in fines and unpaid taxes.

Last week, Ai Weiwei handed over half of the amount to clear the way for an appeal against the massive tax bill. A large majority had been donated by fans, whom he has promised to pay back.

Author: Christoph Ricking / act
Editor: Shamil Shams