Creativity and art have not had a major impact in China but it is like in a dark room if people see the light they will remember it, artist and activist Ai Weiwei said in a panel at the Central Hall Westminster in London.

"To tackle this creativity always helps but compared to the loss of life it is so painful. An artwork can sometimes mark time," Weiwei said.

From climate change to human rights abuses, the global crises of the 21st reveal the delicate interconnections that bind nations, citizens and ecosystems. Faced with human, environmental tragedy can an artist really hope to make a difference? Does artistic creativity truly have the ability to change our world for the better?

Ai Weiwei, raised in a labour camp and later beaten, surveilled and imprisoned on trumped-up charges by the Chinese state, is the living proof that it does. He has dedicated his life to the fight against oppression and violence of all kinds. As a conceptual artist and activist fighting for justice, he has become an icon in his own lifetime, renowned world-wide for his work promoting freedom of thought and expression, compassion, and humanitarian values.

"We hear you talk about how creativity can effect social change. For so many years you were protesting the Chinese government from within, it says so much about how art can do for war," Helene Cooper, a Pentagon correspondent for The New York Times said.

In the current climate, where China is fighting the deadly coronavirus crisis, art has its role to play argued Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth.

"You hear people being left to die at home. Quarantine is an authorized tool but the public health infrastructure lacks. You have been an artist under a regime that censors from the inside and outside. Under communism you need symbolism in Art to express your thoughts," Roth said.

At the beginning of any public event or incident happening in China what is lacking is transparency argued Weiwei.

"The government is just corrupt and you will never understand what is happening from within as there is no freedom of press or freedom of expression. There is a very important department of propaganda which has proven to be very efficient. China has the most advanced facial recognition softwares on the planet, a strong internet police and they are also using drones to monitor individuals now," Weiwei added.

"If I continued to work in China I would be in jail. For my boys I had to make the hard choice to leave China," Weiwei said.


Telling a story

We figured out that we have had to be very creative in our ways to get the word out through social media - that is through videos. We always have to try new creative routes to make a diffidence to move government with pressure at the Human Rights Watch, Roth said.

"The challenge to all of us is how to demonstrate the truth. A lot of it comes down to what Ai Weiwei does which is portraying individuals. We need to bring those individuals stories to tell the truth," Roth added. "My story also started with my father who was a refuge in Nazi Germany. He would tell us what it was like growing up in Nazi Germany. As I grew up I realized that I wanted a role in this to prevent this from ever happening and that is how I ended up at the Human Rights Watch."

"My latest project is on refugees. When we started filming the human flow of refugees we traveled to around 40 of the biggest refugee camps. Every time we have to try to create a film that captures some sensitivity. As a refugee you are the waste of humanity. This is what we try to depict. The realities are tragic it doesn’t follow our logic and doesn’t reflect our intelligence," Weiwei commented.

"In each case you want to tell a story through the individual," Roth said.

A global citizen, artist and thinker, Ai Weiwei moves between modes of production and investigation. He continues to speak out publicly on issues he believes important using universal symbols of humanity and community, such as bicycles, flowers and trees. Through installations, sculptures, films and photographs he further tackles the problems of borders and conflicts.

Ai Weiwei is one of the leading cultural figures of his generation and serves as an example for free expression both in China and internationally.

Ai Weiwei was born in 1957 in Beijing and now lives and works in Berlin. He attended Beijing Film Academy and later, on moving to New York (1983–1993), continued his studies at the Parsons School of Design.