[Anderson:] Two exhibitions of world renowned artist Ai Weiwei opened this week in London without him. Ai Weiwei, he was also an activist, was detained by Chinese authorities in Beijing more than five weeks ago. He hasn't been seen or heard of from since. As Atika Shubert reports, his art and his absence are speaking loudly.
[Atika Shubert, Cnn Correspondent:] In the 18th century courtyard of London's Somerset House, the animals of Ai Weiwei's "Zodiac Heads" installation are a silent testament to the artist. He was supposed to be here for the opening, but he is in jail, arrested in April by Chinese authorities for alleged economic crimes. It has been more than a month. No one has heard from him.
[Gwyn Miles, Director, Somerset House:] This is a sort of bittersweet occasion. We're terribly proud of this installation, but we fully expected Ai Weiwei to be here to unveil the sculpture, and we were going to have public lectures and we were going to do a lot of work with him. And so we're very, very upset that he's not able to be here. And we're also upset because, actually, to have someone taken off the street and no contact with them for over a month is a very upsetting thing to happen.
[Shubert:] But his arrest simply seems to have fueled more demand for his work. Here in London, there are now several art spaces featuring his installations, and these posters with his quotes on it will be plastered across the city. And at each of these exhibitions, there is the same demand. Release Ai Weiwei. Ai Weiwei's themes of political and social change run throughout the Lisson Gallery, since 1967, a showcase for young artists with attitude. These Han Dynasty vases are more than 2,000 years old, but covered in modern industrial paint. This surveillance camera is crafted from a single piece of marble and presented like a classical bust, as are these discarded doors, modeled after demolition sites that Ai Weiwei witnessed in Beijing.
[Nicholas Logsdail, Lisson Gallery:] In a way, they become like monuments to the past. Monuments to something that has been a symbol of this extraordinary process, incredibly fast process of change in China, where whole towns and villages have been demolished and rebuilt.
[Shubert:] But it was the Tate Modern's vast "Turbine Hall" that first introduced many in London to the Chinese artist. One hundred million sunflower seeds of hand-painted porcelain, each one unique. In an interview with CNN late last year, Ai Weiwei admitted his outspoken views and provocative art put him on a collision course with Chinese authorities, but with no regrets.
[Ai Weiwei, Artist:] Art is not just decoration. Art is not just atoms of the collector's habit. Art is about social change. It's about how we define our time and our culture.
[Shubert:] As the audience for his work grows, however, it seems any attempt to silence the artist simply gives more voice to his art. Atika Shubert, CNN, London.
[Anderson:] Well, TV viewers in China won't have seen that report. Earlier, we filmed our output in Beijing, and well, just take a look at what happened.
[Monita Rajpal, Cnn Anchor:] Welcome back. The art world is calling for galleries and museums around the world to shut their doors for a day in support of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. Ai Weiwei, who's also a political activist, was detained by Chinese authorities in Beijing more than five weeks ago and
[Anderson:] Blackout. Coverage of Ai Weiwei is censored in China. Well, many international artists are coming out in support of Ai Weiwei. British sculptor Antony Gormley tells Channel Four News Ai's detention is a "disaster" for the art world and says "state barbarism will not be silenced." Well, Danish sculptor Jens Galschlot has petitioned his own government to officially demand Ai's release with signatures from other Danish artists, as well. And British sculptor Anish Kapoor has called on museums around the world to close in protest. He has dedicated his latest installation in Paris to Ai. Earlier, I got the chance to talk to Anish Kapoor. Here's his reaction to the detention.
[Anish Kapoor, Artist:] I think it's important that there is a solidarity amongst artists. I don't know Ai Weiwei at all. But I feel that it's important that I that I show my hand.
[Anderson:] What do you think as the art world you can do?
[Kapoor:] China will baffle us all in the sense that its economic power is so enormous that it will win in the end. So why it feels the need to silence an artist is beyond me. I mean, of course, he's not alone. There are writers and other artists who have been taken away as well. We have to, I think, try and persuade the Chinese government that there is another way.
[Anderson:] Some will say that Ai Weiwei should know better than to go up against a regime that doesn't, to a certain extent, quite know what to do with him at this point.
[Kapoor:] Well, what has he done? Let's just look at that for half a second. He has recorded the deaths of children, mostly, and some adults through neglect, let's say, or administrative complication, perhaps corruption. What he's done, I the way I see it is to let us know that every life matters, that it matters that people die for inconsequential reasons. He hasn't even asked for things to be taken into account. He hasn't brought anyone to book, so to speak. But to just to record. Now, this is the kind of thing artists do all the time. Artists, fundamentally, are not dangerous. What we do is act as a kind of conscience of the nation, of the world, or whatever that is.
[Anderson:] The deputy foreign minister called the recent protests about Wei's Weiwei's incarceration "condescending." How would you respond to that?
[Kapoor:] Did he really say that? Condescending to whom? I find that hard to believe, really. I think we have to record our protest at the sad disappearance of our fellows everywhere all the time.
[Anderson:] Anish Kapoor speaking to me earlier from his studios in South London. And after that interview, he told me that he in no uncertain terms would be reticent to show his own work in China anytime soon if Ai's detention continues. Well, for millions across Europe, it's a must-watch program. I'm talking, of course, about Eurovision, the song contest you either love or despise.
[Edward Grimes, Jedward:] Behind every successful person is a pack of haters!
[John Grimes, Jedward:] And you've got to realize that you've got to go out and do it for all your fans.
[Anderson:] These guys star in it, but will they win it? We take a look at this year's favorites up next.