May 11th, 2011
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On May 1st  three american art students decided to jump the barriers surrounding Ai Weiwei’s Sunflower Seeds piece at the Tate modern’s Turbine hall. This action was in protest against the barrier, against the original intentions of the work being inhibited by health and safety (originally museum visitors were to walk on the seeds), to support the release of Ai Weiwei by the Chinese government, and promote freedom of speech and art. The biggest surprise in the video comes when dozens of other museum members joined the three students in a spontaneous group protest. Now that’s power to the people! Watch the full video after the jump!

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May 6th, 2011
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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain, has been the source of much controversy over the years due to the frequent use of the  ”N word”and other racial slurs. In this piece, An artist called Someguy has blacked out the entire text of the book, except for the 212 instances of the word.

This piece brings to light many interesting points in the debate of censorship and hate speech. It was announced in the begining of 2011 that one book publisher with rights to ‘Huckleberry Finn’ will re-release the book with all instances of the word replaced by the “slave” instead. What do you think about this situation? Should this hateful word be stricken from the pages of all books or should we not censor the works of authors and writers?

 

 

 

 

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May 5th, 2011
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Unless you’ve been living under a rock you’ve heard about the arrest of  prominent Chinese artists and activist Ai WeiWei by the Chinese Government. Ai Wei Wei and dozens of bloggers and artists were arrested earlier in April  for “inciting subversion of state power,” a catch-all term used to jail anyone critical of Communist Party rule. Apparently The government is concerned that activists want to launch a “jasmine revolution” similar to the protests taking place in the Middle East.

Yesterday NPR released a great story about graffiti popping up all over China supporting the artist and demanding for his release. Street art is at its best when used to expose corruption. Taking your cause to the streets is one of the only ways to let your voice be heard In a country where the government won’t give a legitimate platform to its citizens. Lets hope that more people stand up to the government and demand that not just Ai Wei Wei but all political prisoners are released and that an open discussion can begin between the Chinese government and the countries 1.4 Billion residents.

Listen and read the full story on NPR.