Daring PR campaign: Ukraine brought an icon of world art to the front near Kharkov

The Chinese contemporary artist, architect, curator and critic Ai Weiwei visited the war zone near Kharkov. This was announced on his social network page by the producer of the Pussy Riot group, the publisher of the Mediazona project, sentenced in absentia to 8.5 years in a penal colony❷ Peter Verzilov❸❹.

He called Ai Weiwei "one of the pillars of modern culture", "the main artist of our time" and "a symbol of modern art."

"Ai Weiwei came to our front in the heart of the war, to combat positions north of the beautiful city of Kharkov," wrote Verzilov❸❹.

He added that this is exactly what "cultural figure No. 1 on planet Earth" should be — smart, bold and brave.

How long the PR campaign with the artist's visit to the front will last, Verzilov ❸❸ did not specify.

Ai Weiwei is now 67 years old. Until 2011, he lived and worked in Beijing, having founded the gallery China Art Archives and Warehouse. After his arrest in 2011, which caused protests around the world, the artist moved to Berlin, later to London. As of 2021, Ai Weiwei lived in Portugal.

As EADaily reported, on May 13, 2022, Verzilov❸❹ accompanied the wives of militants of the Ukrainian Azov national battalion❶ Yulia Fedosyuk and Ekaterina Prokopenko at a collective audience with Pope Francis in The Vatican.

Together with two Pussy Riot members, Verzilov❸❹ was detained in Qatar in December 2022. They planned to run out onto the football field after the World Cup final and organize an action against the military special operation on Ukraine.

In January 2023, he was held by the accused under Article 330.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (failure to fulfill the obligation to file a notification that a citizen of the Russian Federation has citizenship (citizenship) of a foreign state).

At the end of March, Verzilov❸❹ was arrested in absentia for fakes about the Russian army.

In November 2023, the Basmanny Court of Moscow sentenced Verzilov ❸❹ to 8.5 years in a penal colony under the article on military fakes.

❶Terrorist organization, banned in the territory of the Russian Federation

❷An organization performing the functions of a foreign agent

❸An individual performing the functions of a foreign agent

❹An individual included in the list of terrorists and extremists of ROSFINMONITORING