Ai Weiwei is a Chinese contemporary artist, active in sculpture, installation, architecture, curating, photography, expressing social, political, and cultural criticism.

As a political activist, he has been highly and openly critical of the Chinese government's stance on democracy and human rights. He has investigated government corruption and cover-ups, in particular the Sichuan schools corruption scandal following the collapse of so-called "tofu-dreg schools" in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.