Ai Weiwei sells his designed face masks on eBay for charity

Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei has launched a project selling protective face masks featuring his own designs on eBay. The masks, priced at $50 each, $300 for a set of four, and $1,500 for a collection of twenty, are screen-printed with images including a middle finger, a Chinese mythological creature, and sunflower seeds inspired by his 2010 installation Sunflower Seeds at Tate Modern's Turbine Hall in London. Proceeds benefit Human Rights Watch, Refugees International, and Médecins Sans Frontières. The project is curated by Alexandra Munroe, curator of Asian art and advisor at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Ai Weiwei announced the initiative via an Instagram post on May 28, 2020, describing the pandemic as a humanitarian crisis and emphasizing individual action. The masks are available on eBay until June 27.