China Heritage foreshadows the 2019-2020 Year of the Pig 己亥豬年 with a New Year’s card designed by Callum Smith. Here, we use the sheathed bronze Pig’s head from Ai Weiwei’s ‘Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads’ to:

Reflect on the mainland Chinese regime of censorship and guided opinion that enters its seventieth year in 2019;

Recall the detention of the artist-writer Ai Weiwei in 2011 (see A View on Ai Weiwei’s Exit) and the plight of victims of state repression;

Remember people in- and outside China who, through their words and deeds, reject attempts to 鉗口結舌 qián kǒu jié shé — ‘seal mouths and knot tongues’; and,

Reconsider 2019, a year of historical commemoration, anniversaries and mourning.

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In 2015, I contacted Ai Weiwei, then under house arrest in Beijing, to ask if I could exhibit his work on a remote island in the Salish Sea. To my amazement, he agreed.… Read

In 2015, I contacted Ai Weiwei, then under house arrest in Beijing, to ask if I could exhibit his work on a remote island in the Salish Sea. To my amazement, he agreed.… Read

In 2015, I contacted Ai Weiwei, then under house arrest in Beijing, to ask if I could exhibit his work on a remote island in the Salish Sea. To my amazement, he agreed.… Read