It's not the first piece of criticism of Germany by Ai Weiwei, but it always leaves me with a weird impression. On one hand, he's a great artist, and I want to see - and sometimes do see - some deep insights into Germany's mind there. The points he criticizes are also mostly valid, and many of them well-known, but the way he criticizes them are somewhat confusing.
Rigid rules - yes, lack of social mobility - yes, no sense of good taste for food or anything else including ethics - yes, and it's not new. But we do have dispute, sometimes pretty heated one - in parliament, in the press, among ourselves. E.g. the silence over Nord Stream is rather a silence of confusion, not fear.
He admits not knowing German in this very article, so I really wonder what Germany looks like to him. He's a great mind, but also lack of knowledge in the local language would mean an important part of reality would be missing from your picture.
Rigid rules - yes, lack of social mobility - yes, no sense of good taste for food or anything else including ethics - yes, and it's not new. But we do have dispute, sometimes pretty heated one - in parliament, in the press, among ourselves. E.g. the silence over Nord Stream is rather a silence of confusion, not fear.
He admits not knowing German in this very article, so I really wonder what Germany looks like to him. He's a great mind, but also lack of knowledge in the local language would mean an important part of reality would be missing from your picture.