Ai Weiwei barred from using Lego for ‘political’ work

AI WEIWEI, the Chinese dissident artist, has accused the Danish toymaker Lego of “censorship and discrimination” after it refused to supply him with its toy bricks for a new artwork.

The artist claimed Lego made the decision because it feared offending Beijing as it expands into China.

In an Instagram post about his plans for a Lego installation at an upcoming show in Australia, Ai said the Danish firm told him “they cannot approve the use of Legos for political works”.

The claim prompted an outcry on social media and he has since been inundated with offers of personal Lego collections to complete the work.

In his post, Ai noted Lego’s recent announced that the British firm Merlin Entertainments will work with a Chinese partner to build a Legoland park in Shanghai – a deal secured in the leadup to Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s visit to the UK last week. Lego has looked to expand into China and plans to build a new manufacturing plant there.

Ai said Lego had “questionable values” and its refusal to sell its blocks for the proposed artwork was an “act of censorship and discrimination”. Citing the slogan “everything is awesome” from The Lego Movie, he wrote on Twitter: “Lego will tell us what to do, or not to do. That is awesome!”

The toymaker said its objection to Ai’s request was part of its practice of refusing to allow its toys to be used for a “political agenda”.

“We refrain, on a global level, from actively engaging in or endorsing the use of LEGO bricks in projects or contexts of a political agenda,” Troy Taylor, Lego’s head of marketing in Australia, told ABC News. “This principle is not new. Where we are made aware that there is a political context, we therefore kindly decline support.”

Ai has used Lego for installations in the past, including an exhibition last year at the former Alcatraz prison in San Francisco which featured portraits of dissident figures such as Nelson Mandela, Edward Snowden and Liu Xiaobo, the jailed Chinese author and Nobel Peace Prize winner.

The National Gallery of Victoria said Ai wanted the Lego for a “room-scale installation” as part of an exhibition highlighting Australian advocates for human rights and free speech.

Max Delany, a curator at the gallery, said Ai’s project will proceed but would not comment on whether it will still include Lego.