Who says one gets disrespect after doing crimes? Perception needs to be changed as Ai Weiwei, who in April got detained at Beijing airport and was under interrogation for 81 days, has been accredited with ‘the most powerful artist of 2011’ by a reputed British Art Review.

This Chinese politically outspoken person was given bail but still, it was under constant surveillance for having a hand in economic crimes and he got strict orders from the Government to not give any public comment. The list in which he got named was of November issue, and it accompanied an article which stated that only after he got arrested and was under interrogation, people recognized and took interest in his art work.

Reason for not naming any other, and only him was that the Art Review saw some thin different in work, which predicted something that was common for every nation. They included aspects like ‘freedom of expression, nationalism, economic power, the Internet, the rights of the human being’.

He basically stressed on the fact that nothing is more important for a human than freedom of speech. For Liu Weimin, who is Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, if recognition is given due to political reasons then it would be wrong and if he is been named purely on the basis of his credentials, then it is fine.

Ai after knowing about his naming was found to be quite happy and said it would further publicize his appeal for ‘freedom of expression’.