The former maximum-security island prison of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay is hosting a tribute to political prisoners of the world.<br /><br /> The installation “@ large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz” is an exhibition by the dissident Chinese artist. <br /><br /> Ai is under house arrest in his own country, on what supporters say are bogus tax charges.<br /><br /> Curator Cheryl Haines, also Executive Director of the FOR-SITE Foundation, said: “He (Ai Weiwei) thought it was a very appropriate site for his work because of not only the history of detainment here but also the history of protest.”<br /><br /> Ninety volunteers in San Francisco assembled the exhibits from instructions prepared by Ai and crews working with him in Beijing. Alcatraz stopped being used as a prison in 1963 and now gets 1.6 million tourists each year.<br /><br /> Greg Moore, President and CEO of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, said: “They (tourists) know about a certain era of the federal penitentiary when Al Capone and gangsters were put into Alcatraz. Ai Weiwei opens up the deeper story: of what incarceration means, of what detainment means, what are human rights and what is political imprisonment.”<br /><br /> An outspoken critic of his government, Ai cannot travel freely. <br /><br /> A foreign ministry statement went as follows: “China is a country ruled by law. China’s relevant department will handle Chinese citizens’ departures according to regulations.”<br /><br /> Ai spent nearly three months in prison in China in 2011. <br /><br /> Through art, he pushes boundaries. Refusing to vanish, Ai named the main work on Alcatraz “Trace”.
