Ai Weiwei, Visiting Professor

Recently released from jail in his country, Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has accepted a visiting professor post at the Fine Arts University (UdK) in Berlin. His incorporation to the university's teaching staff will significantly add to the artistic and discursive level of the institution, according to its directors. The son of Ai Qing, one of China's greatest Twentieth Century poets, the 53-year-old artist has been a critic of the country¿s regime. His father was also accused of being a rightist intellectual by the Mao Zedong government and was exiled first to the northeast region and later to the Muslim area of Xingjian, in the West. Ai Weiwei is known, among other works, for his design for the "Bird's Nest," Beijing's Olympic stadium. His work has been exhibited in the US, Europe, Japan, South Korea, and Australia. One of his most famous creations was the filling of the Turbine Gallery at the Tate Modern in London with 100 million sunflower seeds made in porcelain, in November of 2010.