Ai Weiwei was born in Beijing in 1957. He is a conceptual artist, curator, cultural advisor, and architect. In 1979 he was a founder of "The Stars" (Xing Xing), one of the first avant-garde art groups in modern China. During the 1980s and early 1990s he lived in New York, where he studied at the Art Students League and the Parsons School of Design. Returning to China in 1993, he co-founded the China Art Archive & Warehouse (CAAW), a non profit loft-gallery in Beijing where he serves as artistic director. Ai's work has been shown in museums and galleries globally, as well as in the 48th Venice Biennale (1999), Documenta XII (2007), and other international art events. As a curator, he is known for cutting-edge exhibitions, such as Fuck Off, which he co-curated in 1999 as a provocative counterpoint to the Shanghai Biennale. In the early 2000s, Ai collaborated with the acclaimed Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron on the winning design for the National Stadium project for the Beijing Olympics. In 2008 he received the Chinese Contemporary Art Award, established in 1998 by Swiss Ambassador and collector Uli Sigg, for Lifetime Contribution. Some of Ai's most recent exhibitions are: "According to What?" at Mori Museum, Tokyo and "So Sorry" at Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany. The artist lives and works in Bejing. [View]