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The art: a mix of China and the West; The man: a mix of iconoclasm and tradition, self-promotion and selflessness

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Ai Weiwei collected the rebar from collapsed schoolhouses following the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan province to create Straight.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail

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Moon Chest 2008. Media preview of the Ai Weiwei: According to What? exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario on August 14 2013Fred Lum

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Map of China 2008. Tieli wood saved from demolished wood from temples of Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Media preview of the Ai Weiwei: According to What? exhibit at the Art Gallery of OntarioFred Lum

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Moon Chest 2008. Media preview of the Ai Weiwei: According to What? exhibit at the Art Gallery of OntarioFred Lum

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Grapes, 2010. Media preview of the Ai Weiwei: According to What? exhibit at the Art Gallery of OntarioFred Lum/The Globe and Mail

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Forever Bicycles, 2003. Media preview of the Ai Weiwei: According to What? exhibit at the Art Gallery of OntarioFred Lum/The Globe and Mail

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Kippe 2006. Tieli wood saved from demolished wood from temples of Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Media preview of the Ai Weiwei: According to What? exhibit at the Art Gallery of OntarioFred Lum

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