(from April of 2011, the first of a number of postings on The Allen Ginsberg Project on this important Chinese dissident artist)
“At a poetry reading at St Mark’s In-the-Bowery (The Poetry Project), Ai met Allen Ginsberg who had come to know Ai’s father (the venerable poet Ai Qing) on a trip to Beijing. He began spending time with Ginsberg. “He read his poems to me”, Ai said, “one of the ones that he wrote for his mother – “White Shroud” – “and I didn’t quite understand it, but he loved reading it”.
In what is still very much an on-going event (the Chinese Government crack-down, Ai Weiwei’s detention), further background is perhaps necessary. As well as Osnos’ piece(s), useful information is provided by the BBC’s documentary, “Without Fear or Favor” and by the recent PBS Frontline documentary, “Who’s Afraid of Ai Weiwei?”, the latter taken from Alison Klayman’s upcoming full-length documentary,“Ai Weiwei:Never Sorry“. Mention should also be made of the artist’s own video contribution to last month’s TED Conference, so described by the organizers as “an unexpected and courageous statement about his treatment by the government, social change, the power of the web, and his hope for the future of China”. For daily updates and further information we would also direct you to the Ai Weiwei watch at Hypoallergic.
It is really very informative for others.