Ai Weiwei’s @aiww “Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn” (1995) is arguably one of the artist’s most important works. The performance, in which Ai dropped a valuable 2000 year-old Han Dynasty ceremonial urn onto a Beijing sidewalk (resulting in its destruction), drew heated debate from aficionados of Chinese material culture. Ai defended the work by stating, “General Mao used to tell us that we can only build a new world if we destroy the old one.” The piece addresses the expunction of cultural heritage w