Dissident artist posts images of suspected bugs on Instagram after returning to China following first overseas trip in four years

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Dissident artist Ai Weiwei has returned to China after his first overseas trip in four years and discovered what appear to be listening devices hidden in his studio.



In a series of Instagram and Twitter posts on Sunday, the pop artist and free-speech activist shared pictures and video of at least one device he said he found behind an electrical socket.

Artist Ai Weiwei has uncovered what appears to be hidden surveillance equipment while renovating his studio in Beijing. Photograph: Ai Weiwei

“There’s always a surprise,” the text accompanying one of the Instagram posts reads.

In a video posted on Instagram, someone sets off firecrackers in a bin next to the device. The accompanying text reads: “Can you hear this?”

“I’ve found a bunch of ‘bedbugs’,” the artist told Liu Xiaoyuan, a human rights lawyer and friend on Twitter.

Ai has confirmed discovering what he thought were listening devices when he returned to Beijing.

Liu tweeted that the devices were discovered when the studio was being renovated and suggested that they may have been placed there four years ago.

At approximately that time Ai was detained without charge for 81 days by Chinese authorities but never charged or convicted of a crime.

When officials returned his passport to him in July – ending a four-year travel ban – the artist told the Guardian he did not fear that he would be forced into exile if he left the country.

“I’ve never worried about that. I think if the authorities let me go I’m sure they will let me back. They have been quite reasonable,” he said at the time.

The artist has come under fire from human rights campaigners in China after he appeared to soften his stance towards the Chinese authorities in interviews with German media .

Ai has long made a habit of turning Chinese authorities’ surveillance of him into art. When surveillance cameras were installed outside his studio, the artist hung lanterns from them.

Equipment found in the artist’s studio. Photograph: Ai Weiwei

In 2012, on the first anniversary of his arrest at Beijing airport, Ai installed web cameras at his home and broadcast a 24-hour live feed of himself.

Earlier this year, the artist partnered with Jacob Appelbaum – a WikiLeaks collaborator, Edward Snowden confidant and co-creator of the anonymous web browser Tor – to make “Panda to Panda”, an artwork consisting of toy pandas that have been stuffed with shredded Snowden documents and SD cards.

Additional reporting Amber Ziye Wang

