Exiled artist Ai Weiwei reflects on Beijing Olympics

By STEPHEN WADE
AP Sports Writer

BEIJING (AP) — The artist Ai Weiwei helped design the Bird’s Nest for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It’s again the venue for the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics. He hoped the 2008 Games and the venue’s distinct architecture with its instantly recognizable weave of curving steel beams would symbolize China’s new openness. He was disappointed. The Chinese dissident is widely regarded as one of the world’s greatest living artists. He has repeatedly described the stadium and the 2008 Olympics as a “fake smile” that his native country presented to the world. He expects more of the same for the Winter Olympics.