What was Ai Weiwei’s design firm FAKE?

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Chinese activist and artist Ai Weiwei in 2019, facing the camera and wearing a black zip-up jacket. — Ai Weiwei Ai Weiwei, 2019.

Ai Weiwei founded the design firm FAKE in 2003 to facilitate his architectural projects. The firm’s work was characterized by an emphasis on simplicity, often achieved through the use of commonplace materials.1

Following legal and financial pressures, including a significant tax bill levied against the artist in 2011, Ai Weiwei announced that the business license for FAKE had been revoked in late 2012. The firm's closure and the surrounding legal challenges were later documented in the 2013 film Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case.2