Ai Weiwei has returned from a trip to London–his first since receiving his passport back from the Chinese government three months ago–to find listening devices implanted in the electrical sockets of his studio.
This seems surprising since the return of the artist’s passport seemed to mark a period of detente between the dissident artist and the Chinese government. It is also not confirmed that the devices in Ai’s walls are in fact listening devices. The Independent has the report, in partial below.
Artist Ai Weiwei returned from a trip to London to discover what he believes to be listening devices hidden in the walls of his studio.
The Chinese dissident, who was in England last month for the launch of his Royal Academy exhibition, posted pictures and videos of one device, which he said he found behind a plug socket. In a series of updates on his Twitter and Instagram feeds, he said that he found the “bugs” while renovating his workspace, adding: “There will always be surprises.”
He uploaded a video of someone lighting fireworks in a bin next to the device, with the comment: “Can you hear this?”
*All images courtesy Ai Weiwei’s Instagram