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"Liu Xiaobo in the cage" ("Liu Xiaobo in the cage"), relief, created in 2017. In the work, Liu Xiaobo's head is located in the center of the sculpture, with the Nobel medal on the left side of the head and an empty chair on the right side, which is actually present at the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony. The committee used empty chairs to represent Liu Xiaobo, who was behind bars and was unable to attend the awards ceremony. At the outermost part of the sculpture are 12 iron railings, surrounded by a ring of barbed wire. Chen Weiming uses his own art to show Liu Xiaobo "this symbol of Chinese democracy and freedom."
Liu Xiaobo (1955.12.28-2017.7.13), a native of Changchun, Jilin Province, China. Author, social activist, literary critic, human rights activist, one of the main drafters of "Charter 08", and the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner. He graduated from the Chinese Department of Jilin University, has a master's degree in Beijing Normal University, and a doctorate in literature and art. He has served as a lecturer in the Chinese Department of Beijing Normal University, the second and third president of the Independent Chinese PEN, and the editor-in-chief of the "Democratic China" online journal. After four incidents, he was arrested and imprisoned. He devoted his life to propagating political reforms and participating in a movement aimed at ending the one-party dictatorship of the Chinese Communist Party and was arrested and sentenced many times.
In 2008, Liu Xiaobo initiated and participated in the drafting of "Charter 08" and signed it with more than 300 people from all walks of life in China. The charter was issued on December 10, World Human Rights Day, the 60th anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. "Charter 08" is written in the style of "Charter 77" of Czechoslovakia, mainly calling for freedom of speech, human rights and free elections.
On June 23, 2009, Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years in prison and deprived of political rights for two years on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power”.
In 2010, Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize by the Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize Committee. He became the second citizen of the People’s Republic of China to receive the prize after the 14th Dalai Lama. He was also Karl von Ossi from Nazi Germany. After Tski (1935), the second person to win the Nobel Prize while serving his sentence. Liu Xiaobo is also the only Nobel Prize winner in the history of the Nobel Prize who failed to restore complete personal freedom from the time he won the prize to his death. In June 2017, Liu Xiaobo was allowed to go to a doctor in isolation from the outside world after he was diagnosed with advanced liver cancer. He passed away on July 13, at the age of 61. His body was cremated on July 15 and the ashes were arranged to be scattered into the sea at noon that day.
Major works include: "Aesthetics and Human Freedom", "Criticism of Choice-Dialogue with Thought Leader Li Zehou", "Metaphysical Fog", "Mystery of Thought and Human Dream", "Contemporary Chinese Politics and Chinese Intellectuals" , "Criticism of Modern Chinese Intellectuals", "Selected Poems of Liu Xiaobo and Liu Xia", "The Nation Who Lies to the Conscience", "Future Free China in the People", "Single-Edged Poisoned Arrow-Criticism of Contemporary Chinese Nationalism", "Great Power" Sinking-A Memorandum to China, From Tiananmen Incident to Charter 08, etc.
The awards and honors received are as follows: In 1990 and 1996, he won the Hellman Human Rights Award of the United States Human Rights Watch twice. In 2003, the 17th "Outstanding Democrat Award" by the China Democracy Education Foundation of the United States. On December 21, 2004, Reporters Without Borders and the French Foundation awarded the 2004 "Defense of Freedom of Speech Award". In 2004, the 9th Hong Kong "Human Rights Journalism Awards Merit Award". In 2005, the 10th Hong Kong Human Rights Journalism Awards Grand Prix. In 2006, the 11th Hong Kong Human Rights Journalism Awards Merit Award. In August 2007, the Asia Pacific Human Rights Foundation "Conscience and Courage Award". In March 2009, the Czech Republic "People in Need" rescue organization "Homo Homini" Human Rights Award. In April 2009, the American PEN "Barbara Goldsmith Free Writing Award". On October 4, 2010, Human Rights Watch "Alison Daisy Fokies Award for Extraordinary Sports." On October 7, 2010, the German PEN Hermann Kesten Award. On October 8, 2010, the Nobel Peace Prize. In May 2014, he won the "2014 Democracy Award" issued by the American NGO "National Democracy Foundation" alongside Xu Zhiyong.
Although Liu Xiaobo in the work is imprisoned, he can see "the light of freedom is flickering" in his eyes, and his smile symbolizes that China's democracy and freedom will one day come. Chen Weiming said that the idea of making the statue was proposed by the dissident writer Hu Ping. The construction started two weeks before Liu Xiaobo's death and took four to five months to complete. After Liu Xiaobo’s death, his ashes were arranged to be scattered into the sea. “You cannot be buried on the land of China.” Chen Weiming hopes that this work will give Liu Xiaobo a place in the Freedom Sculpture Park. His thought and spirit will be carried forward in the park. “Although Liu Xiaobo died, but He still lives in our hearts".
