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Joan Baez and Ai Weiwei honoured by Amnesty International Joan Baez and Ai Weiwei honoured by Amnesty International
(35 minutes later)
On Thursday night, Ai Weiwei’s son took the stage for the first time. Called up by Tate Modern director Chris Dercon, six-year-old Ai Lao, buttoned up in a blue blazer, jeans and Velcro sneakers, hopped up onstage at the Berliner Festspiele in his hometown, Berlin. To roaring applause, he accepted Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience award 2015 on behalf of his father, the artist and activist, who lives under surveillance in China and is forbidden to leave. Handed the microphone, Lao said softly: “I really hope my dad gets his passport back.”On Thursday night, Ai Weiwei’s son took the stage for the first time. Called up by Tate Modern director Chris Dercon, six-year-old Ai Lao, buttoned up in a blue blazer, jeans and Velcro sneakers, hopped up onstage at the Berliner Festspiele in his hometown, Berlin. To roaring applause, he accepted Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience award 2015 on behalf of his father, the artist and activist, who lives under surveillance in China and is forbidden to leave. Handed the microphone, Lao said softly: “I really hope my dad gets his passport back.”
The prize was jointly awarded to legendary American folk singer and activist Joan Baez. Inaugurated in 2003, the award intends to recognise human rights leadership and the fight against dictatorships, crimes against humanity, torture, repression and censorship. Previous winners include Nelson Mandela and Malala Yousafzai. This is the first time the award has been given to a contemporary artist.The prize was jointly awarded to legendary American folk singer and activist Joan Baez. Inaugurated in 2003, the award intends to recognise human rights leadership and the fight against dictatorships, crimes against humanity, torture, repression and censorship. Previous winners include Nelson Mandela and Malala Yousafzai. This is the first time the award has been given to a contemporary artist.
Weiwei, whose works includes the design of the national stadium in Beijing known as the bird’s nest, and Sunflower Seeds, an installation which filled Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, was jailed without charge for 81 days in 2011. Accepting his award over the phone, Dercon said that Ai had paid tribute to people “way worse than me”, including civil rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang who faces eight years in prison, imprisoned Nobel peace prize-winning poet Liu Xiaobo, journalist Gao Yu, women’s rights activist Su Changlan, activist Liu Ping and academic Ilham Tohti.Weiwei, whose works includes the design of the national stadium in Beijing known as the bird’s nest, and Sunflower Seeds, an installation which filled Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, was jailed without charge for 81 days in 2011. Accepting his award over the phone, Dercon said that Ai had paid tribute to people “way worse than me”, including civil rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang who faces eight years in prison, imprisoned Nobel peace prize-winning poet Liu Xiaobo, journalist Gao Yu, women’s rights activist Su Changlan, activist Liu Ping and academic Ilham Tohti.
Baez’s award marks the 50th anniversary of her performance with the Selma to Montgomery civil rights march in Alabama. The singer, a prime mover in the folk boom of the early 60s, has confronted racist violence in Louisiana, performed at rallies alongside Nina Simone and sang from the front steps at the Lincoln Memorial before Dr Martin Luther King Jr’s I Have A Dream speech in 1963. “Non-violence has been the centre for everything I’ve done in my life,” she said on Friday.Baez’s award marks the 50th anniversary of her performance with the Selma to Montgomery civil rights march in Alabama. The singer, a prime mover in the folk boom of the early 60s, has confronted racist violence in Louisiana, performed at rallies alongside Nina Simone and sang from the front steps at the Lincoln Memorial before Dr Martin Luther King Jr’s I Have A Dream speech in 1963. “Non-violence has been the centre for everything I’ve done in my life,” she said on Friday.
Amnesty international was founded in 1961. Baez joined the human rights pressure group a decade later, the first major artist to do so, after an activist knocked on her door in San Francisco promoting the cause. Baez joined, today saying it was “the right thing to do”.Amnesty international was founded in 1961. Baez joined the human rights pressure group a decade later, the first major artist to do so, after an activist knocked on her door in San Francisco promoting the cause. Baez joined, today saying it was “the right thing to do”.
“We started with small groups of people in homes writing postcards and sending them to dictatorship jails and finding out it actually worked,” said Baez. “The jailers got so fed up with these mountains of letters they took someone out of torture or prison.”“We started with small groups of people in homes writing postcards and sending them to dictatorship jails and finding out it actually worked,” said Baez. “The jailers got so fed up with these mountains of letters they took someone out of torture or prison.”
Many artists, from U2 to JK Rowling, have joined Baez in supporting Amnesty over the years. Baez appealed to those unwilling to express their political convictions. “To artists who are afraid, have courage,” said Baez. “Courage isn’t something easy; no serious social change can take place without a willingness to take a risk. Write a song, sing a song or object; go where your heart takes you.”Many artists, from U2 to JK Rowling, have joined Baez in supporting Amnesty over the years. Baez appealed to those unwilling to express their political convictions. “To artists who are afraid, have courage,” said Baez. “Courage isn’t something easy; no serious social change can take place without a willingness to take a risk. Write a song, sing a song or object; go where your heart takes you.”
Introducing Baez’s award, Patti Smith said: “If the 16th century had Joan of Arc, we have Joan Baez.” She described Baez’s legacy as a “solitary fierceness” that has been “a vehicle for social protest, a comfort and a ray of hope for people.” Introducing Baez’s award, Patti Smith said: “If the 16th century had Joan of Arc, we have Joan Baez.” She described Baez’s legacy as a “solitary fierceness” that has been “a vehicle for social protest, a comfort and a ray of hope for people”.
The ceremony began with Venezuelan American pianist Gabriela Montero performing an improvisational piece that she said responded to “imprisonment and torture, liberation and freedom”; a gentle, Satie-like lullaby performed by a projected image of Weiwei’s 2007 sculpture Descending Light, a fallen chandelier in Chinese red.The ceremony began with Venezuelan American pianist Gabriela Montero performing an improvisational piece that she said responded to “imprisonment and torture, liberation and freedom”; a gentle, Satie-like lullaby performed by a projected image of Weiwei’s 2007 sculpture Descending Light, a fallen chandelier in Chinese red.
The audience was moved by a speech by Ensaf Haidar appealing for help. She is the wife of Saudi political blogger Raif Badawi, who has been imprisoned since last year, facing 10 years, a fine and 1,000 lashes. Amnesty collected 98,000 signatures for Badawi’s release, which they presented to the Saudi Arabia embassy in Berlin.The audience was moved by a speech by Ensaf Haidar appealing for help. She is the wife of Saudi political blogger Raif Badawi, who has been imprisoned since last year, facing 10 years, a fine and 1,000 lashes. Amnesty collected 98,000 signatures for Badawi’s release, which they presented to the Saudi Arabia embassy in Berlin.
The night concluded with a performance by Baez, which ended in the rest of the performers joining her onstage. Towards the end of the last song, Bob Dylan’s I Shall be Released, her eyes fluttered, holding back tears, one arm around Haidar. After performing, Baez was one of the last to leave the stage, playfully arguing with front-row fans that she was too tired to take selfies. Lao slept in his mother’s arms, carried away quietly past his bedtime. The night concluded with a performance by Baez, which ended in the rest of the performers joining her onstage. Towards the end of the last song, Bob Dylan’s I Shall Be Released, her eyes fluttered, holding back tears, one arm around Haidar. After performing, Baez was one of the last to leave the stage, playfully arguing with front-row fans that she was too tired to take selfies. Lao slept in his mother’s arms, carried away quietly, past his bedtime.
The exiled political commentator and Guardian contributor Wu’erkaixi, who led the Tiananmen protests in 1989, had flown in from Taipei to attend the ceremony. Seeing Weiwei’s son onstage struck a chord with his own situation – he hasn’t seen his parents in 25 years. “I’ve turned myself in four times so I hope I can see my parents, even if it’s behind glass or bars,” he said. “I can imagine how devastated Ai Weiwei must be, despite the big smile on his face and his cheerful voice.”The exiled political commentator and Guardian contributor Wu’erkaixi, who led the Tiananmen protests in 1989, had flown in from Taipei to attend the ceremony. Seeing Weiwei’s son onstage struck a chord with his own situation – he hasn’t seen his parents in 25 years. “I’ve turned myself in four times so I hope I can see my parents, even if it’s behind glass or bars,” he said. “I can imagine how devastated Ai Weiwei must be, despite the big smile on his face and his cheerful voice.”
As an excited crowd lined up in the theatre lobby to offer signatures on behalf of Badawi’s release, Wu’erkaixi had a hopeful take on the evening, despite China’s political state.As an excited crowd lined up in the theatre lobby to offer signatures on behalf of Badawi’s release, Wu’erkaixi had a hopeful take on the evening, despite China’s political state.
“Maybe to the Chinese government, it doesn’t matter people gather in a concert hall in Berlin, that doesn’t shape anything fundamentally in China, but it does,” he said.“Maybe to the Chinese government, it doesn’t matter people gather in a concert hall in Berlin, that doesn’t shape anything fundamentally in China, but it does,” he said.
“Pressure works. I know the voice; voices are contagious, especially when they’re the voices of conscience. It will roll over into China. When a million of people echo that voice, it will make a difference.”“Pressure works. I know the voice; voices are contagious, especially when they’re the voices of conscience. It will roll over into China. When a million of people echo that voice, it will make a difference.”