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Translating Ai Weiwei
For The Economist, I wrote a story about Lee Ambrozy, who spent the last three years translating Ai Weiwei’s Chinese blog into an English language book.
After Lee Ambrozy moved to Beijing in 2004, she quickly grew accustomed to the spectacle that trailed Ai Weiwei wherever he went. The first time she saw the artist and activist in person, he was accompanied by five video cameras. Some passersby cried out for “Teacher Ai”; others stopped to bow. But Ms Ambrozy, an art-history student with a social science background, could only laugh. The scene was like something from a Eugéne Delacroix painting — and Mr Ai, detained by Chinese officials earlier this month, was still a couple years from earning his musket and flag.
Then in 2008 she received a call from Mr Ai’s office. The artist was looking for a translator, someone who could turn his controversial blog into a book. “The caller immediately offered me the job,” Ms Ambrozy said over the phone. “Anyone who knew what they were doing would have asked for a sample translation or tried to set up a meeting. But she didn’t. She just sent me the text.”
Read the entire article here.
—ANDREW STOUT About | Journalisms | Tumblr | Twitter
