Ai Weiwei supporters offer to donate Lego after ban

The Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei has accused the Danish toymaker, Lego, of "censorship and discrimination" after the company refused to let him to use its bricks for a new exhibition in Australia. Despite the ban, the artist may have the last laugh after supporters rallied on Twitter to offer their own Lego blocks.

The controversy arose when Lego refused a bulk order for bricks that were to be used in a new Ai Weiwei artwork about political dissidents as part of an exhibition for the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, reports the BBC. Lego said it never sold directly to anyone wanting to use its products in order to make a political statement.

One of the world's leading contemporary artists, Ai is known for his criticism of the Chinese government and was arrested during a crackdown on political activists in China in 2011. He was released without charge after 81 days, but authorities kept his passport for four years.

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Ai previously used Lego blocks to create a series of portraits of 175 dissident figures who had been jailed or exiled, from Nelson Mandela to Edward Snowden, on the site of the former Alcatraz prison near San Francisco last year. The Chinese artist had planned a similar work for his Melbourne show, but a bulk order placed by the gallery was rejected by the toy company.

Ai says Lego told the museum its bricks could not be used for artworks containing "any political, religious, racist, obscene or defaming statements". Referring to The Lego Movie's slogan "everything is awesome", Ai complained on Twitter: "Lego will tell us what to do, or not to do. That is awesome!"

Ai added: "Lego is giving us the definition of what is 'political', and all the big corporations are telling us what to love or hate." He said that refusing to sell its product to him was "an act of censorship and discrimination".

Ai's outraged supporters responded on Twitter, some pledging to donate their own Lego blocks so that the artist could complete his work, reports the ABC.

Users have created the hashtag #LegosForWeiwei calling for the public to send Ai their toy bricks.

Many have also expressed their disappointment and confusion with Lego's stance.

"Rejecting @aiww's bulk order on grounds of political 'neutrality' @Lego_Group has, paradoxically, made a political statement," Svea Vikander tweeted.

Others raised suspicions that Lego is trying to defend its corporate interests in China, especially after the British company Merlin Entertainments announced plans last week for a Legoland amusement park in Shanghai as part of a multibillion-dollar trade deal negotiated between the UK and China during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit.

As offers to donate blocks began to pour in, Ai tweeted to The Guardian: "Yes, I will find a way to accept".

A Lego spokesman told The Guardian that the company had never attempted to ban the use of the bricks in projects it did not endorse, and respected the right of "free creative expression", but it would not actively support such work through bulk sales.

Dayna Galloway, a games lecturer at Abertay University, has joined others in urging Ai to dump Lego for the rival plastic bricks firm, Mega Blocks: "Same political message at a fraction of the cost".