Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is under house arrest

One of China's best-known artists, Ai Weiwei, says he has been under house arrest at his home in Beijing.

He says the authorities want to prevent him holding a party to mark the forced demolition of his new Shanghai studio.

Mr Ai was initially invited to build the space, but it has now been declared illegal and will shortly be demolished.

The artist helped create Beijing's Olympic Bird's Nest stadium and his latest installation of sunflower seeds is showing at London's Tate Modern.

Born in 1957 in Beijing, the artist has played a key role in contemporary Chinese art over the last two decades, and has been highly vocal about human rights issues in the country.

Some of the artists works:




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