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On View

Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly Film

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The story of the film Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly begins with FOR-SITE’s remarkable exhibition @Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz. Following Ai Weiwei’s detention at the hands of the Chinese authorities, the outspoken artist and activist transformed the former island penitentiary of Alcatraz into an artistic platform. The resulting exhibition engaged over 900,000 visitors in a conversation about the plight of prisoners of conscience around the world.

Trace was one of the eight new artworks that comprised the @Large exhibition. Made entirely from LEGO bricks, the work depicts the faces and names of 176 brave individuals who were incarcerated or exiled due to their beliefs, affiliations, and nonviolent expressions of dissent. The work’s companion piece, Yours Truly, invited visitors to compose messages of hope to many of the prisoners seen in Trace. 

Visitors were galvanized by the possibility that their voices might have an impact. By the time the exhibition ended, over 90,000 postcards had been sent. Then something even more astonishing began to happen. 

FOR-SITE started to hear back from the prisoners and their families. Some of the messages from Alcatraz were getting through, and people had been moved—even sustained—by the public’s outpouring of concern for their welfare and causes.

The film Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly follows these postcards around the globe—from Alcatraz Island to Beijing, Washington, D.C., and Cairo—as director Cheryl Haines meets with former prisoners of conscience and their families to discuss their impossible choices and the comfort they found in messages sent by people they would never meet. The film also takes a deep dive into Ai Weiwei’s inspiration for the postcard project. Interviews with the artist, his mother, and lifelong friends uncover the touching story of a childhood spent in exile and a postcard that found its way to the middle of nowhere. Ultimately, Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly is a call to action, extending the incredible reach of Ai Weiwei’s postcards by asking viewers to take the issue of global human rights personally.

Learn more by visiting the Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly film website, or support the film by making a donation. 

Ai Weiwei
Ai WeiweiChinese, born 1957

Ai Weiwei is a Beijing-based artist and activist whose work encompasses sculpture, installation, photography, film, architecture, curation, and social criticism. His art has been featured in major solo exhibitions including Ai Weiwei at Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, UK, 2014; Evidence at the Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, 2014; and Ai Weiwei: According to What?, which was organized by the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, in 2009, and traveled to North American venues in 2013–14. Ai collaborated with architects Herzog & de Meuron on the “bird’s nest” stadium for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award in 2015.

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THIS WEEKEND: Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly, A Documentary Film by our founder @cheryllhaines will be on view at the 2022 GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL (@glastofest),

Screenings: Gas Tower Stage at Shangri La
🟡Saturday / June 25 / 4pm
🔵Sunday / June 26 / 4pm

The story of the film @aiww: @yourstrulydoc begins with FOR-SITE’s remarkable exhibition @ Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz. Following @aiww detention at the hands of the Chinese authorities, the outspoken artist and activist transformed the former island penitentiary of Alcatraz into an artistic platform. The resulting exhibition engaged over 900,000 visitors in a conversation about the plight of prisoners of conscience around the world.
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THIS WEEKEND: Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly, A Documentary Film by our founder @cheryllhaines will be on view at the 2022 GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL (@glastofest), Screenings: Gas Tower Stage at Shangri La 🟡Saturday / June 25 / 4pm 🔵Sunday / June 26 / 4pm The story of the film @aiww: @yourstrulydoc begins with FOR-SITE’s remarkable exhibition @ Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz. Following @aiww detention at the hands of the Chinese authorities, the outspoken artist and activist transformed the former island penitentiary of Alcatraz into an artistic platform. The resulting exhibition engaged over 900,000 visitors in a conversation about the plight of prisoners of conscience around the world.
1 day ago
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1/9
“Ultimately, Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly is a call to action, extending the incredible reach of Ai Weiwei’s art by asking us to take the issue of global human rights to heart and act accordingly.

In partnership with @amnesty International, festival-goers watching the Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly documentary at Glastonbury (@glastofest) will be given a blank postcard and invited by AI WeiWei to write their own message of hope to prisoners of conscience around the world. At the end of the festival, postcards will be sent by Amnesty to prisoners in Bahrain, China, Iran, and Vietnam. Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly is a call to action, extending the incredible reach of Ai Weiwei’s art by asking us to take the issue of global human rights to heart and act accordingly.” - @markhayeswestall for FAD Magazine (@worldoffad )

This exclusive UK screening of Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly will take place in the Shangri-La Field @shangrilaglasto at the Gas Tower at 4pm on Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th June at Glastonbury Festival.
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“Ultimately, Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly is a call to action, extending the incredible reach of Ai Weiwei’s art by asking us to take the issue of global human rights to heart and act accordingly. In partnership with @amnesty International, festival-goers watching the Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly documentary at Glastonbury (@glastofest) will be given a blank postcard and invited by AI WeiWei to write their own message of hope to prisoners of conscience around the world. At the end of the festival, postcards will be sent by Amnesty to prisoners in Bahrain, China, Iran, and Vietnam. Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly is a call to action, extending the incredible reach of Ai Weiwei’s art by asking us to take the issue of global human rights to heart and act accordingly.” - @markhayeswestall for FAD Magazine (@worldoffad ) This exclusive UK screening of Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly will take place in the Shangri-La Field @shangrilaglasto at the Gas Tower at 4pm on Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th June at Glastonbury Festival.
2 days ago
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2/9
The film Ai Weiwei: @yourstrulydoc  follows these postcards around the globe—from Alcatraz Island to Beijing, Washington, D.C., and Cairo—as director @cheryllhaines meets with former prisoners of conscience and their families to discuss their impossible choices and the comfort they found in messages sent by people they would never meet.
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The film Ai Weiwei: @yourstrulydoc  follows these postcards around the globe—from Alcatraz Island to Beijing, Washington, D.C., and Cairo—as director @cheryllhaines meets with former prisoners of conscience and their families to discuss their impossible choices and the comfort they found in messages sent by people they would never meet.
2 weeks ago
View on Instagram |
3/9
Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly, a documentary film based on the eponymous art installation that was part of @for_site’s 2014-15 exhibition @ Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz. Like the artwork, the film aims to inspire viewers to take action in the struggle for human rights at home and abroad.

@yourstrulydoc is part of the incredible line up at the 2022 GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL (@glastofest), June 22-26!
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Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly, a documentary film based on the eponymous art installation that was part of @for_site’s 2014-15 exhibition @ Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz. Like the artwork, the film aims to inspire viewers to take action in the struggle for human rights at home and abroad. @yourstrulydoc is part of the incredible line up at the 2022 GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL (@glastofest), June 22-26!
2 weeks ago
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4/9
We are thrilled to announce that Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly, A Documentary Film by our founder @cheryllhaines will be on view at the 2022 GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL (@glastofest), June 22-26!

The story of the film Ai Weiwei: @yourstrulydoc begins with FOR-SITE’s remarkable exhibition @ Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz. Following @aiww detention at the hands of the Chinese authorities, the outspoken artist and activist transformed the former island penitentiary of Alcatraz into an artistic platform. The resulting exhibition engaged over 900,000 visitors in a conversation about the plight of prisoners of conscience around the world.

Stay up to date about the festival and showtimes by subscribing to our newsletter at the link in bio.
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We are thrilled to announce that Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly, A Documentary Film by our founder @cheryllhaines will be on view at the 2022 GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL (@glastofest), June 22-26! The story of the film Ai Weiwei: @yourstrulydoc begins with FOR-SITE’s remarkable exhibition @ Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz. Following @aiww detention at the hands of the Chinese authorities, the outspoken artist and activist transformed the former island penitentiary of Alcatraz into an artistic platform. The resulting exhibition engaged over 900,000 visitors in a conversation about the plight of prisoners of conscience around the world. Stay up to date about the festival and showtimes by subscribing to our newsletter at the link in bio.
3 weeks ago
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5/9
Opening this Weekend: For-Site founder @cheryllhaines- @hainesgallery 
proudly presents Ai Weiwei: Everyday Monuments, a solo exhibition by the Chinese artist-activist opening June 2022.

Designed specifically for Haines’ new @fortmasoncenter gallery, Everyday Monuments comprises 18 works in materials such as LEGO, marble, and wood, each a synthesis of complex historical, cultural, and political references.

The exhibition marks the San Francisco debut of @aiww Zodiac (2018), a series of twelve panels depicting the mythical animals of the traditional Chinese Zodiac, created from thousands of brightly hued LEGO bricks. With their rich, contrasting colors and square shape, these works evoke Warhol’s celebrity portraits, while simultaneously referring to Ai’s first use of LEGO bricks for Trace, the enormous installation depicting political prisoners that was integral to the FOR-SITE Foundation’s 2014 exhibition @Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz. Previously recreated by Ai in bronze, the Zodiac heads remain a potent trigger for conversations about nationalist sentiment, provenance, authenticity, and cultural exchange.
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Opening this Weekend: For-Site founder @cheryllhaines- @hainesgallery proudly presents Ai Weiwei: Everyday Monuments, a solo exhibition by the Chinese artist-activist opening June 2022. Designed specifically for Haines’ new @fortmasoncenter gallery, Everyday Monuments comprises 18 works in materials such as LEGO, marble, and wood, each a synthesis of complex historical, cultural, and political references. The exhibition marks the San Francisco debut of @aiww Zodiac (2018), a series of twelve panels depicting the mythical animals of the traditional Chinese Zodiac, created from thousands of brightly hued LEGO bricks. With their rich, contrasting colors and square shape, these works evoke Warhol’s celebrity portraits, while simultaneously referring to Ai’s first use of LEGO bricks for Trace, the enormous installation depicting political prisoners that was integral to the FOR-SITE Foundation’s 2014 exhibition @Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz. Previously recreated by Ai in bronze, the Zodiac heads remain a potent trigger for conversations about nationalist sentiment, provenance, authenticity, and cultural exchange.
3 weeks ago
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6/9
The intimate, personal nature of the objects in @michelepred’s Encirclement highlight the ways we sacrifice privacy in exchange for illusions of safety.

 Image: Michele Pred, Encirclement; Home Land Security; FOR-SITE 2016; photo: @robertdiversherrick
The intimate, personal nature of the objects in @michelepred’s Encirclement highlight the ways we sacrifice privacy in exchange for illusions of safety.

 Image: Michele Pred, Encirclement; Home Land Security; FOR-SITE 2016; photo: @robertdiversherrick
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The intimate, personal nature of the objects in @michelepred’s Encirclement highlight the ways we sacrifice privacy in exchange for illusions of safety. Image: Michele Pred, Encirclement; Home Land Security; FOR-SITE 2016; photo: @robertdiversherrick
4 weeks ago
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7/9
Living between New York and his native Seoul in a permanent state of migration, Do Ho Suh moves among cultures that have different views of individual and collective identity, fueling his interests in themes of identification, suspended illusion, and the fabric of memory. In his sculpture Some/One, thousands of dog tags representing individual soldiers combine to create a larger-than-life suit of armor, an arresting totem that suggests power composed of the many. But closer inspection reveals the dog tags to be fictional, each “name” a nonsensical string of characters. The mirrored surface inside the sculpture reflects the ambiguity of the individual’s relationship to the piece: When we see ourselves enrobed in the garment, are we secure in its embrace, or are we complicit in the illusion of security?

FOR-SITE’s 2016 exhibition “Home Land Security” extended focus on provocative art about place, inviting viewers into decommissioned batteries, an administrative building, and a chapel — some open to the public for the first time — that served for decades as key sites in the US Army’s Coastal Defense System. #ArtAboutPlace

Photo by @robertdiversherrick
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Living between New York and his native Seoul in a permanent state of migration, Do Ho Suh moves among cultures that have different views of individual and collective identity, fueling his interests in themes of identification, suspended illusion, and the fabric of memory. In his sculpture Some/One, thousands of dog tags representing individual soldiers combine to create a larger-than-life suit of armor, an arresting totem that suggests power composed of the many. But closer inspection reveals the dog tags to be fictional, each “name” a nonsensical string of characters. The mirrored surface inside the sculpture reflects the ambiguity of the individual’s relationship to the piece: When we see ourselves enrobed in the garment, are we secure in its embrace, or are we complicit in the illusion of security? FOR-SITE’s 2016 exhibition “Home Land Security” extended focus on provocative art about place, inviting viewers into decommissioned batteries, an administrative building, and a chapel — some open to the public for the first time — that served for decades as key sites in the US Army’s Coastal Defense System. #ArtAboutPlace Photo by @robertdiversherrick
1 month ago
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8/9
@alexiawebster sets up temporary mobile portrait studios in the streets of refugee camps around the world, where she offers families uprooted by violence the chance to reclaim their heritage, dignity, and sense of belonging through professional photographs: “Whether in war or security, poverty or wealth, a family photograph is a precious object. It affirms our identity and worth, and our place in humanity,” Webster explains. 

 FOR-SITE’s 2016 exhibition “Home Land Security” extended focus on provocative art about place, inviting viewers into decommissioned batteries, an administrative building, and a chapel — some open to the public for the first time — that served for decades as key sites in the US Army’s Coastal Defense System. #ArtAboutPlace

Image:  Alexia Webster, Bulengo Studios, from the Refugee Street Studio Project, Home Land Security 2016, Photo by @robertdiversherrick
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@alexiawebster sets up temporary mobile portrait studios in the streets of refugee camps around the world, where she offers families uprooted by violence the chance to reclaim their heritage, dignity, and sense of belonging through professional photographs: “Whether in war or security, poverty or wealth, a family photograph is a precious object. It affirms our identity and worth, and our place in humanity,” Webster explains. FOR-SITE’s 2016 exhibition “Home Land Security” extended focus on provocative art about place, inviting viewers into decommissioned batteries, an administrative building, and a chapel — some open to the public for the first time — that served for decades as key sites in the US Army’s Coastal Defense System. #ArtAboutPlace Image:  Alexia Webster, Bulengo Studios, from the Refugee Street Studio Project, Home Land Security 2016, Photo by @robertdiversherrick
1 month ago
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9/9

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