Ai Weiwei's Blog: A Digital Dissident's Archive Published by MIT Press

In 2011, MIT Press published 'Ai Weiwei's Blog: Writings, Interviews, and Digital Rants 2006-2009', a curated print anthology of the Chinese artist and activist's influential blog. The blog, which began in 2006 and was shut down by state-monitored portal sina.com.cn in 2009, had reached up to 17 million readers at its peak. Ai used the platform to share thousands of images and texts critiquing the Chinese government, including calls to boycott the 2008 Olympics and investigations into the deaths of hundreds of children in the Sichuan earthquake due to shoddy construction. The book, edited and translated by Lee Ambrozy, omits reader comments, hyperlinks, and screenshots, functioning more as a static archive than a dynamic blog. Ai was arrested at Beijing airport in April 2011 on charges of 'economic crimes' and detained for over two months, provoking international outcry. The publication coincided with his detention, underscoring the fragility of dissident expression.