From Sydney Biennale Installations to Film Screenings, Ai Weiwei Highlights Treatment of Global Refugees

During a visit to Australia, Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei has blitzed the media with his concerns about the global treatment of refugees.

He is the headline artist with two major installations at the Biennale of Sydney that runs until June 2018. One, called “The Law of the Journey” located at the Cockatoo Island, features a black rubber, inflatable boat and figures. They were made with the same material used to produce the hazardous boats that some asylum seekers and migrants travel in while attempting to cross the Mediterranean.

SBS News (Special Broadcasting Service) posted a video about the work on its Facebook page that has generated a lively discussion. Bean Javin's comment echoed the sentiments of many Australians:

It's really embarrassing when you meet people from overseas and even they know how poorly we treat refugees. Making me ashamed to even admit I am Australian in some cases. It's a greater worry that Australia's method/stance has impacted how other countries treat the refugee crisis right now too.

As explained in earlier Global Voices posts about the issue, Australia has a controversial policy to deal with asylum seekers who arrive by boat, either housing them in offshore detention centres for lengthy periods of time, or turning them back on the spot. They are not permitted to settle in Australia.

Paul Brady clearly disagreed:

Obviously he has no clue about the facts around asylum seekers to Australia. His art work reflects what is happening in the Mediterranean not Australia.

Since 2014, more than 1.7 million people fleeing conflict and insecurity, such as the war in Syria, have arrived to Europe by sea, according to the United Nations. The journey is dangerous: in that same time, about 16,000 perished or went missing in the attempt.

Ai Weiwei's second installation, Crystal Ball, is a glass sphere sitting on life jackets collected from the Greek island of Lesbos, a main entry point for asylum seekers and migrants who cross the Mediterranean: