today is the 30th anniversary of the crackdown in beijing one of the most prominent critics of the chinese government since that time is the chinese artist ai wei wei who's lived in germany since 2015 he creates works on a monumental scale i'm right now. staging a monumental exhibition of his works. it's the biggest retrospective of ever seen in europe the new exhibition and shows his most important works of recent years. including $60000000.00 sunflower seeds and of course each one handmade an individual but they all seem to dissolve into one mass an emblem for chinese society everything is art everything is politics is an exhibition that delivers on its name. in the last years i way

way has gone from a dissident chinese artist to an international celebrity the cameras crowd in to get his picture but he counters with his own lens his own view when i moved to germany many expected him to become more critical of beijing but he also turned the criticism and europe fighting for more acceptance for refugees who come here if not only britons menu but use humor rise to go out to anybody who has no freedom of speech will be grateful if somebody else flying to gave us because of his. eyes 2017 film human flow followed stories of forced displacement and migration from afghanistan and iraq over the mediterranean to europe some see his efforts as heroic others accuse him of overstepping the bounds between art and activism. also in the west this always

saying art for our sake which i think is a lie artists narrative are sacred art has always consarn to human dignity. freedom of. expression and the rights so those very. solid foundations arkell i just become a superficial and a very decorative. in 2008 an earthquake in china's sichuan province left more than 70000 people dead including more than 5000 children i went to travel there to see what the government wasn't saying you collected victims' names began investigating the collapse of poorly built school buildings he collected mangled reinforcing bars and had them straightened back out. 164 tons of these steel bars

are on display here laid out in boxes that resemble coffins a mixture of memorial and indictment. looks amazing i'm joined now by my colleague david levitt stave it off that. great actually go him arrested in that it does seem that that is what led up to his famous 2011 arrest where he disappeared for 81 days basically the chinese government wanted this earthquake tragedy to go away but i kept it in the public eye so to speak and he was taken into secret police custody that's the subject of this work which is also on display it's called sacred now he of course wasn't supposed to talk about his arrest at all oh but that is what brought him to the world's attention now he's also he's called himself a refugee and this long before he came to live in germany in 2015 what he always

had a difficult relationship with beijing actually goes back to his childhood his father was a renowned poet who was banished by chairman mao during the cultural revolution to the edge of the gobi desert and the family lived there in extreme poverty for a while they even lived in a hole in the ground for a time here is showing a picture of that hole on his cell phone so all that as a boy of course left him with very confused feelings about the chinese state now we're talking about this great way partly because of it's the 30th anniversary of the crackdown now how is it just now in china well china is still not a place where artists can make or exhibit whatever art they want but actually and actually things have been getting worse in the past few years rather than better looking back that period of time before and after tiananmen the eighty's the ninety's was a relatively good and free time for chinese artists and really since china hosted

the olympics and since she didn't ping to power things have been getting a lot harder now at the same time art is big money even in china and there's some chinese art that's worth a lot of money. that is also actually quo. critical if you look between the lines like this work the last supper by saying funds you which sold for $23000000.00 if you look judas is actually wearing a western necktie and there's the movement called cynical real ism also very popular with collectors spearheaded by you amy journal and fung the journey is creepy smiles read by many as critical of chinese society of course these artists are painting tandem and square and if they are asked everything is all everything is politics is it. reads be there in your. thank you very. straight of the fostering of the so-called constitution which crazy for the 1st time

a democratic republic in this country after the commies caved in $919.00 and it's the 100th anniversary of the founding of the house design school also involved to serve right that the german national theatre of the world famous stuttgart ballet got together and 3 international choreographers have created new works inspired by the year of 04 or revolt that was 1919. to move is the starting point and every think revolvers around revolvers living's. making this on the mechanisms of the revolution i've choreographed for example a snowball effect it's like the cosmos in chaos on the big there is a visionary someone who stands up and says i am the people i am the face of this

revolution to spin this. on. the masses those who remain faceless. the choreo. the furthest point subtle in her forms of dance expression attitude to the topic is support for school. friends come on the schmuck you can't make art without democracy or freedom if i can't express my opinion there is no art for me that's the crucial point tenant's this piece is being staged not only a short gart but also in by mark where germany's 1st democratic constitution was signed into law a fence i think this is such a special moment exactly 100 years later to put this play on stage environment on the exact day that the bios museum was opened to. the 2nd coming out is from choreography cuts as you know scott and has

a very special star i designed classic the wagner infeld powerhouse line. in the beginning i so wanted a achieved in bauhaus the stuff they built and then more and more i research it i still think that they were interesting for me then i started getting into this creative process once they were an artist so and then this was the moment that they said that's what's interesting for me the bauhaus from insight about this is how design looks from the inside in cozy our schools piece. so what was it like living and working at the bauhaus this is what interests our 3rd choreographer edward crew shows that those who started at a certain justice license as well as artistic freedom and he has made this freedom

to experiment a basic principle in this work. it's a start the dam's using the principles of law so i do that in a way naturally because what am i doing. in the work in general. it's a process of redox. presents 3 new don'ts pieces about the awakening of modernity hundreds of years ago. more and more people are riding bikes to try and be eco friendly make their own small contribution to help save the planet from c o 2 emissions but of course making bikes isn't very eco friendly is it all that still has to be produced however 2 enterprising guys in northern germany are trying to rectify that by using bike frames out of bamboo mating gallina. keil

in northern germany is a city of boats and bikes. but even here the 2 bikes ridden by maximillian shy and . stand out from the rest. their frames are made of bamboo. we were pleased to say it's people always ask does it hold up that many people knock on it of their almost right and then they'll knock on it to see if it really is bamboo or just painted metal those are the top 2 reactions when people see these bikes. the 2 men discovered bamboo in 2012 as students today launched their my boo company their idea to help produce sustainable bikes in ghana and sell them in europe. the finishing touches are made in germany they say bamboo is ideal for bicycles almost also bamboo is a long grained grass unlike other materials normally used for bicycles. the long grain allows for a tougher exterior but low weight and very high flexibility. the men from keel work

with the local project in ghana helping to set up a bicycle frame factory. bamboo is a commonly used material in the region it's ready for harvest in just 3 years. about 80 man hours go into making each frame the more than 40 jobs were created the profits go to finance building a new school the bamboo bicycles by my blue cost from 15024500 euros many buyers use them as alternatives to their cars. i know that bicycles have their price i don't want to be supporting a social and sustainable product the bike was worth every cent to me. it's all. over them it's a great compromise to say it's a step in the right direction but on our social commitment is 100 percent and ecologically ours are a cut above any other bicycle. bicycles made of natural material. are both attractive and sustainable. and good

on them of course they're very light to bamboozle a lot but say it's field daily dose of alt some culture a lot small on all these topics i and others of course on our website at d.w. dot com slash culture and on our facebook pages well at speed culture thanks very much for watching and join us again soon bubba.

the lifeline a connection to. the river of spirits the coccyx of. how long the caribbean and. the river still runs its neutral. the county's government has big plans to develop the region. to the form of environmental initiatives people's. hopes up in 13 don't keep. their super sharp. many eyes themselves away says secretive then you'll hear the jingling the coins and super rich definitely around 20000000000 more or less. how do germany's wealthiest people live why do they

keep such a low profile. snoop around to catch a glimpse. of her top of the world the disc of the super rich starts june 10th to double. click on to the news. channel. goldmine of stories. with exclusive insights. and a must see concerning arts and culture team you're a. place to be curious minds. do it yourself networkers. so subscribe don't miss out. on not all think it's. just sometimes out of place and often whip it out mistakes

you consider german culture looking at the stereotype the question but if you think the future of the truth i not. needed saying it takes his grandmother day out to eat it's all about. my job join me to meet the gentleman from d.w. . post game. testers gathered near buckingham palace in london as u.s. president donald trump began his 1st state visit to britain. trump and his wife been on the air with guests at the state banquet hosted by queen elizabeth. the queen and prince charles welcomed the trumps with an on a gaunt before arriving the president many by calling london's mayor a stone cold loser.