ChinaGeeks has translated an article from Nanfeng Chuang giving an overview of Ai Weiwei’s activities over 2009:
After the Wenchuan earthquake, he rounded up volunteers and continually developed his Earthquake Student Names Citizen’s Investigation, and posted his results on the first anniversary of the earthquake, leading to widespread public discussion on the ethics of death and human dignity in the wake of a major disaster. In Ai Weiwei’s opinion, aside from earthquakes, everyday tragedies are more common [than major disasters], and what’s worse is that as soon as the sun comes up [on another day] there is nothing [no evidence/memorial], but life has value, and each life must be treasured even if the person has already died. Not identifying the dead is actually disrespecting life itself, and is in opposition to our social values.
