Ai Weiwei: Still a Disturbing Force

In the 1930s, it was the writer Lu Xun who embodied China's conscience. Today, it is Ai Weiwei. For nearly twenty years, the artist has been an icon of his country. A turbulent, disturbing force, he was imprisoned for ninety days by the Beijing regime in 2011, after protesting against the corruption of the Party officials in Sichuan: the place where several thousand children died in a devastating earthquake. The consequent scars to his soul are still raw. But despite the "danger" of not seeing his mother, who has remained alone in Beijing, the internal rage that devours him, eloquent of his total disgust with power in general, is a driving force that sustains him more than ever. Ai Weiwei loves to set himself challenges. "Not as an artist. In fact, I don't think of myself as one. I could just as well be a hairdresser or cook. Besides, I don't need much to live. However, I have a constant need to learn something new. And to ensure that life is bearable." When asked…