Chinese artists and activist Ai Weiwei is on the Greek island of Lesbos recording aspects of the refugee crisis and speaking with refugees, volunteers and NGO’s who are involved in assisting them.
The artist has been posting pictures with refugees and migrants waiting to be registered at the identification and registration center in Moria. He posted a video on Monday showing the arrival of the latest boatload of desperate people aboard a rubber dinghy to the island’s shores from nearby Turkey.
Prior to arriving in Greece, the political dissident was in Melbourne, as his work is featured at the National Gallery of Victoria, in a major international art event. The joint exhibition “Warhol | Ai Wei Wei” explores the significance and impact of the work of the Chinese artist, compared to that of Andy Warhol.
The Chinese artist spent some days in Athens and after a brief visit to the Acropolis and the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, he traveled to Lesvos to continue his work.
Among his photos is one of him posing with Norwegian humanitarian workers from the group Drop in the Ocean. Another shows him on a beach holding a child’s life vest, an object that has come to symbolise the human cost of the migrant flight, with nearly 700 people having drowned in the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece this year.
His pictures and videos are being shared on his Instagram account (https://www.instagram.com/aiww/).
