When Ai Weiwei was invited to mount a big solo exhibition at the Kunsthaus Bregenz one and a half years ago, no one could have foreseen the present situation. At the beginning of April 2011, the artist was arrested at Beijing Capital International Airport and, after two-and-a-half months of uncertainty, was released on bail. While Ai Weiwei is thus no longer being detained, he must nevertheless fulfill strict bail conditions. He is forbidden to leave Peking without permission for the next 12 months, to speak about his captivity, and to give press interviews. He is accused by the Chinese government of economic offences. According to a close friend, the tax authorities have imposed fines in the millions.

Many influential politicians including the American President and the Foreign Ministers of Austria and Germany protested in response to Ai Weiwei’s disappearance in April. Leading intellectuals, Nobel laureates, and a large number of cultural producers expressed support for the artist. Numerous art institutions also organized actions and petitions. A petition for Ai Weiwei’s release, which the Kunsthaus Bregenz supported both on its website and in an action at the Venice Biennale, was signed by more than 100,000 people. Now as then, in view of the travel ban and gag order, the KUB is actively campaigning for the artist’s release.

We have often been asked in recent weeks whether the exhibition will take place. In our view, it is more important than ever right now to show Ai Weiwei’s work, not only because the Kunsthaus Bregenz show concentrates on his architectural collaborations and hence deals with a hitherto undertreated aspect of his extremely diverse oeuvre, but above all because we are convinced that it is necessary to keep interest in and discussion of this major artist’s work and his persecution by the Chinese state in the public eye. While Ai Weiwei’s exhibitions have met with worldwide interest in recent years—at documenta 12 (2007) where he was one of the most noticed participants, or at big solo exhibitions/projects at the Haus der Kunst Munich (2009/10) and the Turbine Hall Tate Modern in London (2010/11)—the current gag order prevents him from making any kind of public statement.