# Ai Weiwei

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "Ai Weiwei," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/ai-weiwei/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*Chinese contemporary artist and pro-democracy activist; designer of the Beijing Olympic Stadium; per John Kiriakou, produced a Lego portrait of him as one of 178 political prisoners in the series, with Kiriakou's panel positioned next to Martin Luther King Jr.; the work is now in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution.*

- **Nationality:** Chinese
- **Known for:** Contemporary art; pro-democracy activism; designer of the Beijing Olympic Stadium
- **Kiriakou-relevant work:** Lego portrait series of 178 political prisoners, including Kiriakou; Kiriakou's panel sits next to Martin Luther King Jr.
- **Current home of the work:** Permanent collection, Smithsonian Institution

**Ai Weiwei** is the Chinese contemporary artist and pro-democracy activist who designed the Beijing Olympic Stadium and was subsequently imprisoned in China for his activism. Per [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou), Ai produced a Lego portrait series of 178 political prisoners while Kiriakou was himself in federal prison. Kiriakou's panel sits in the series next to one of Martin Luther King Jr.[1][2]

The work now lives in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution.[2] In a separate telling, Kiriakou groups the Ai Weiwei portrait with other unexpected gestures of support he received around his release from prison, a welcome-home call from Yoko Ono, another from Oliver Stone, and Roger Waters's anonymous payoff of his second mortgage, as evidence that *"you're not alone"* even in the aftermath of a prison sentence.[3]

## See also

- [Andres Serrano](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/andres-serrano)
- [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)

## Sources

1. Inside the CIA: Secrets That Send Chills Down Your Spine - CIA John Kiriakou (2026-05-25), at 00:36. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtqEYHyY3ms&t=36s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-25-covert-operations-insight-chills/
2. Inside the CIA: Secrets That Send Chills Down Your Spine - CIA John Kiriakou (2026-05-25), at 01:09. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtqEYHyY3ms&t=69s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-25-covert-operations-insight-chills/
3. CIA EXPOSED: Whistleblower Reveals Torture Secrets with Jo (2024-07-30), at 38:26. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnq27oguBTQ&t=2306s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2024-07-30-spartan-leadership-podcast/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/ai-weiwei/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt