COPENHAGEN // Toymaker Lego will no longer ask what its bricks will be used for when making bulk sales - a decision Chinese artist Ai Weiwei hailed as a victory for freedom of expression.
The Danish company found itself at the centre of a social media storm last year after Ai said it had refused his order of the famous children’s building blocks as they would be “used for political works”.
Ai called that move “an act of censorship and discrimination” but Lego said it had a decades-old policy of not endorsing the use of its bricks in projects with a “political agenda”.
But the world’s second-largest toymaker made a U-turn on Tuesday and said that from this month it would no longer ask for the reasons behind large sales to avoid any “misunderstandings”.
“As of January 1, the Lego Group no longer asks for the thematic purpose when selling large quantities of Lego bricks for projects,” the company said.
“Instead, the customers will be asked to make it clear – if they intend to display their Lego creations in public – that the Lego Group does not support or endorse the specific projects.”
Responding to news of Lego’s policy change the artist quipped on Twitter: “Nice move #freedomofexpression.”
Asked whether it was in response to Ai’s case, the toy-maker said it had been asked whether it supports human rights and freedom of expression. In an email, spokesman Roar Rude Trangbaek wrote: “We always have and continue to do – this is at the heart of what Lego play is all about. ... We hope the new guidelines will make it more clear what we stand for.”
Ai’s supporters had donated Lego bricks to him in various countries, and the artist said discussions online about Lego’s refusal to sell bricks for the Melbourne artwork had pressured the company. He said the new policy was a “good move,” and that he now planned to order lots of Legos.
“Lego is a language which everybody can appreciate and should be able to use it according to their will, and that’s what all freedom of expression is about,” the artist said by phone from Germany.
Ai, China’s most prominent contemporary artist, helped design the Bird’s Nest stadium for the Beijing Olympics and has been exhibited around the globe, but his works have often run afoul of China’s authorities.
He used Lego bricks to create portraits of political activists from around the world during a 2014 exhibition on freedom of expression at the US island prison of Alcatraz, in San Francisco Bay.
He also used the building blocks to create artworks for the Andy Warhol-Ai Wei Wei show in Melbourne, Australia, last year after fans from around the world donated bricks in defiance of Lego’s refusal to sell to him.
China has been a key driver of Lego’s growth in recent years, and the company opened an office in Shanghai last year in addition to its manufacturing operations in the country.
* Agence France-Presse and Associated Press
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