10 of Ai Weiwei’s Most Powerful Instagrams from Lesbos
The Chinese artist is documenting the arrival of refugees on the Greek Island.
A woman sits on a pile of lifejackets in the sand, balancing a baby on her legs. Her blank eyes seem to see nothing in front of her -- not the two small children circling her, and not even the sea that she just crossed in a rickety boat.
A woman sits on a pile of lifejackets in the sand, balancing a baby on her legs. Her blank eyes seem to see nothing in front of her — not the two small children circling her, and not even the sea that she just crossed in a rickety boat.
This is just one of the more than 100 images that Ai Weiwei, the Chinese artist and outspoken critic of his Communist government, has posted so far from the Greek island of Lesbos. He has spent the last month there Instagramming the boatloads of refugees who arrive there each day.
This week, Ai was photographed posing in the same position as Alan Kurdi, the 3-year-old Syrian boy who temporarily grasped the world’s attention when he washed up dead on a Turkish beach last September.
Perhaps the most powerful aspect of the photos he’s posted to his public account is the dazed look on the faces of refugees who survived an arduous journey that killed more than 240 people in January alone — the highest death toll on record in Europe’s ongoing refugee crisis.
Ai set up a studio on Lesbos to raise awareness about refugees’ struggles through a series of art projects. “As an artist, I have to relate to humanity’s struggles … I never separate these situations from my art,” he told reporters in early January.
Below are ten of the most powerful posts to his Instagram account so far:
Images: Ai Weiwei/Instagram
More from Foreign Policy

Saudi-Iranian Détente Is a Wake-Up Call for America
The peace plan is a big deal—and it’s no accident that China brokered it.

The U.S.-Israel Relationship No Longer Makes Sense
If Israel and its supporters want the country to continue receiving U.S. largesse, they will need to come up with a new narrative.

Putin Is Trapped in the Sunk-Cost Fallacy of War
Moscow is grasping for meaning in a meaningless invasion.

How China’s Saudi-Iran Deal Can Serve U.S. Interests
And why there’s less to Beijing’s diplomatic breakthrough than meets the eye.