image courtesy of map office


our friends at hong kong-based architectural firm map office are sending out a call to bring attention to the
disappearance of contemporary chinese artist ai weiwei. last sunday, april 3rd, 2011, ai weiwei and his friend wan tao
were stopped and detained by police authorities, from boarding a flight from beijing airport. they were then escorted away

since then, there has been no word as to their whereabouts until now. a statement was released this afternoon from a
state-run global times newspaper breaking china's media silence on the situation, stating that ai weiwei has no respect
for the laws of his country, and that he is on the verge of pushing the limits of legal tolerance. for this,
ai weiwei's behaviour will be evaluated and he will pay a price for his actions.

the artist is best known for his political activism revolving around the earthquake that hit china's sichuan province in 2008.
since then he has faced physical abuse from authorities, his new studio was recently demolished and his name and work
has been censored throughout china among other events and incidents.

you may read more about the detainment of ai weiwei by jerome cohen here.

ai weiwei's work 'sunflower seeds' is currently on show at the tate modern in london.
in may his 'cirlce of animals / zodiac heads' world tour will begin in the grand army play near central park in new york.