Hidden from View: China’s Repression of Uyghurs

Please note: Advanced tickets are now sold out. A limited number of tickets will be available at the door starting at 6 pm.

During Ai Weiwei’s childhood, his father, the famous poet Ai Qing, was accused of “rightism” during Chairman Mao’s anti-intellectual campaign. From 1958 to 1975, his family was then exiled to Xinjiang, an autonomous region in northwest China. Today, the 10 million Turkic-speaking Muslim Uyghurs— who make up about half of the region’s population—face mass arbitrary detention and mistreatment by the Chinese government, which has increased significantly in the past couple of years. This panel, moderated by David Mulroney, Distinguished Senior Fellow at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs, and featuring Sophie Richardson, China Director at Human Rights Watch, and Mehmet Tohti, a prominent Uyghur rights activist and campaigner, will delve into Human Rights Watch’s ongoing research in the area, and the increasingly pervasive controls on daily life that now face Turkic Muslims.

David Mulroney is a former public servant and university administrator. From 2015 – 2018, he served as President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St. Michael’s College, the Catholic federated university within the University of Toronto. He came to St. Michael’s after more than 30 years in Canada’s Public Service. A career Foreign Service Officer, Mr. Mulroney was Canada’s ambassador to the People’s Republic of China from 2009 to 2012. Prior to his appointment to Beijing, Mr. Mulroney was assigned to the Privy Council Office in Ottawa as the Deputy Minister responsible for the Afghanistan Task Force, overseeing coordination of all aspects of Canada’s engagement in Afghanistan. Mr. Mulroney’s other assignments included serving as Associate Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and, concurrently, as the Prime Minister’s Personal Representative to the G8 Summit. Mr. Mulroney currently represents the Archdiocese of Toronto on the board that oversees the operations of Toronto’s three Catholic hospitals. Mr. Mulroney is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs, and an Honorary Fellow of the University of St. Michael’s College. He is a recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, the University of Toronto’s Arbor Award and in June 2015 received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Western University. His book Middle Power, Middle Kingdom was awarded the J.W. Dafoe Prize for 2016.

About the exhibition

Ai Weiwei is one of the world’s most influential artists and human rights activists, as well as one of China’s most formidable critics. Known for smashing conventions—and ceramics—with iconic works like Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn, he upends the cultural traditions and materials of his native China.

This highly-anticipated and timely exhibition explores the breaking of boundaries, both physical and symbolic, and considers how the artist’s ceramic works form a basis for his ongoing exploration of urgent social justice themes, including immigration, freedom of speech, and the repression of dissent. Learn more

Presenting Sponsor

Exhibition Partners

PHIL LIND & ELLEN ROLAND

THE ROONEY FAMILY FOUNDATION

Media Partner

Programs Sponsor

ELEANOR & FRANCIS SHEN

© State WeChat account | Caption: Village officials swear allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party in Kashgar, Xinjiang.