【新唐人2011年5月18日讯】自从艾未未被关押后，西方世界从民间到政府，抗议的声音是前所未有的，尤其西方艺术界持续进行各种形式的抗议，在加拿大多伦多，艺术家们设立了营救艾未未的网页，并连续到多伦多中共领事馆前抗议，为什么他们对一个从未谋面的中国艺术家如此关注，请看本台记者带来的故事。
一亿颗手工制作，绘制的葵花籽，每个都像生活中的我们一样，有着微妙的独特个性和各种的不同。
“它那么温馨，可爱，也很棒，一个个独立的葵花籽，但是有一百万个，想想这个规模，它的隐喻含义，让我们想到中国人，那个巨大的国家，艾未未用他独特的方式感动着人们，一个温暖而关心他人的人。”
正是艾未未的这个作品让多伦多的艺术界关注起中国的状况，艾未未被抓让尼可和她的艺术同行震惊，尼可发起了“艾未未在哪里”的营救活动。
“我真切的感受到生活在民主制度下的自豪，能自由的来画室创作我想创作的，并用我喜欢的 任何方式呈现给公众，也让我思考中国人到底生存在什么状态下。我的良知被这种特殊的方式唤醒了。”
多伦多资深的艺术评论家萨拉－米尔瑞（sarah milroy)关注艾未未的艺术创作10多年了，萨拉说，艾未未被关押，使他更具有感召力，对艺术家和中国的年轻人会有很大的榜样作用。
“我设想艾未未的被抓很可能激励起中国的年轻人，不光是艺术家，对中国人来说会有巨大的影响。”
西方世界持续抗议艾未未被中共当局关押，规模和程度都是前所未有的，萨拉表示这给很多被压迫的民众以激励。
他的故事让世界各地的人受到激励，现在世界各地的人都可以说，我们不用再恐惧，我们可以通过互联网，社交网络组成集体的反抗力量，这切切实实的从根本上改变了人们的观念，人们不必不得不服从我们不喜欢的事情。
尼可表示多伦多艺术界想要传达的一个信息是，加拿大从中国进口很多商品，但这种交换不能只是贸易，现在是加拿大要求中国遵循同样人权标准的时候了。
“更多文化上的交换，更多的交换针对如何像一个生活在地球上的人一样行为”。
尼可认为随着真相广为人知，会形成波浪般的效应，带来巨大的改变。
“如果我说些什么，另外5个人说些什么，再有5个，不断的增长，波浪就是这么形成的，波涛由一个个的水滴组成，互相合作，互相补充能量，然后真相的波涛一冲而下。”
萨拉认为，在中东风起云涌的茉莉花革命的趋势下，中国发生同样的革命很有可能。
“情况非常非常的不同了，中东发生的事情，给人感觉所有的事情都在改变，人们自然会认为，中国也会发生同样的事情，特别是如果中共当局持续这样对待自己受人尊敬的公民。”
新唐人记者刘淑君采访报导。
Ai Weiwei Inspires Chinese Youth
Upon learning about Ai Weiwei’s arrest,
many Westerners, from ordinary people
to government officials, protested
the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) actions,
particularly, Western artists who took part in
various protest activities.
In Toronto, Canada, artists built websites
to help rescue Ai as they continue to protest outside
of the Chinese embassy in Toronto.
Why do they pay so much attention
to a total stranger? Here’s why…
100 million hand-made, hand-painted
sunflower seeds are like people in real life,
with their uniqueness and differences.
“Each sunflower seed is so warm, lovely, and great.
There are 100 million of them. Think of the number.
It reminds us of the Chinese people
and the vast territory of China.
Ai Weiwei is a kind-hearted person who cares
about others and touches people in his own way.”
It is Ai Weiwei’s work, “Sunflower Seeds”
which attracted Toronto’s artists’ attention
to China’s current situation.
Ai’s arrest shocked Nichole and her colleagues.
She started a rescue effort called “Where Is Ai Weiwei?”
“As a person living in a democratic world,
I feel proud that I can go into my studio and
freely create any art form that I want to
and present it to the public in any way I chose.
This makes me think about the living conditions
of the Chinese people.
My conscience is aroused in a unique way.”
Senior Toronto art critic, Sarah Milroy,
has followed Ai’s art for 10 years.
Sarah said, “Ai’s arrest makes him inspiring
and a model for Chinese artists and youth.”
“I think Ai’s arrest is very likely to inspire, not only
artists, but also Chinese youth, and will have
a huge impact on the Chinese people.”
“The Western world’s ongoing protests
against Ai’s unlawful arrest by CCP authorities
is unprecedented, whether in size or extent.”
Sarah said that his arrest will inspire many people
whose voices are suppressed.
“Ai’s story has inspired people all around the world.
Now, people everywhere can say that
nobody needs to be afraid and we can organize
countervailing forces through the Internet and
social networks. It fundamentally changes
people’s way of thinking and people no longer need
to obey rules that they don’t agree with.”
Nick said the message that Toronto’s artists
want to convey, is that Canada imports many
products from China,
but communications shouldn’t be limited to trade
and now it is time to require China to obey
the same human rights rules as other countries.
“More cultural exchanges and more exchanges
about how to behave like a human being on earth.”
Nick thinks that as the truth spreads, a wave effect
will form, bringing about a huge change.
“If I say something and five people repeat what I say,
and then those five people tell five other people what
I said… well, as the number increases,
a wave will form which is composed of drops of water
which cooperate with each other and encourage
each other. Then the wave of truth will pour down.”
Sarah thinks that if Chinese people were allowed to
know about the Jasmine Revolution in Middle East,
it is very likely that China will undergo
the same type of revolution.
“The situation is very different.
What happened in the Middle East makes people
believe that things are changing in the world.
People naturally believe that China
will experience the same thing, considering the CCP’s
long suppression of their people.”
NTD reporter Liu Shujun
