MCLC: Ai Weiwei vase broken in local protest

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Nicolai Volland <nvolland.nus at gmail.com>
Subject: Ai Weiwei vase broken in local protest
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Source: BBC News (2/17/14):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-26233909

Ai Weiwei vase worth $1m broken in local artist protest

A Florida artist is facing criminal charges after deliberately dropping
a vase by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei in an apparent protest.

Maximo Caminero, 51, was charged with criminal mischief after breaking
the $1m (£600,000) vase on Sunday in Miami.

Police say Mr Caminero told them he broke the art work in protest at the
Perez Art Museum Miami's failure to exhibit work by local artists.

Ai Weiwei was detained in 2011 by China during a crackdown on dissent.

The museum is holding an exhibition of the Chinese artist's work until
mid-March.

A security guard told police officers that Mr Caminero picked up a
coloured vase that was part of a floor installation, and when told to
put it down, smashed it on the floor, according to a police affidavit.

While the Florida artist said he would hold a press conference on
Tuesday to explain the act, he told the Miami New Times that he indeed
destroyed the vase in protest.

"I did it for all the local artists in Miami that have never been shown
in museums here," he told the newspaper. "They have spent so many
millions now on international artists."

Mr Caminero said he acted spontaneously, inspired by Ai Weiwei's own art.

The vase he picked up is one of more than a dozen painted in bright
colours and are described by Ai Weiwei as originally made during China's
Han dynasty.

Behind the installation are a series of three black-and-white photos
showing Ai holding a vase and then letting it drop to the ground,
smashing into pieces.

"I saw it as a provocation by Weiwei to join him in an act of
performance protest," Mr Caminero told the New Times.