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The Walker Curates the News 10.26.15

Ai Weiwei with a self-portrait in Legos, via Instagram.

Ai Weiwei with a self-portrait in Legos, via Instagram.

“Everything is awesome!” Or so goes The Lego Movie’s slogan, but Ai Weiwei is finding that’s not quite the case. In September, the Chinese artist was told that the toy company couldn’t fill his bulk order for plastic bricks—intended for use on a series of portraits of political dissidents to be exhibited at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne—because “they cannot approve the use of Legos for political works.” Characterizing the corporation’s actions as “an act of censorship and discrimination,” he noted on Instagram this week that “a British firm formally announced that it will open a new Legoland in Shanghai as one of the many deals of the U.K.-China ‘Golden Era.’” But fear not: Ai will likely have all the Legos he’ll need. Thanks to the hashtag #legosforweiwei, the artist has been inundated with messages from supporters wanting to donate Legos to his cause.

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