Detained Chinese artist Ai Weiwei allowed first brief visit from wife after 43 days

Red-eyed and tense, the usually uninhibited Chinese artist Ai Weiwei seemed a different man in custody as he sat for what his wife said yesterday was a brief, monitored meeting – his first contact with the outside world in 43 days.

Authorities have still not detailed why the avant-garde artist and government critic was detained on 3 April, in a case that has prompted an outcry in the art world and among American and European officials, who have called it a sign of China's deteriorating human rights.

The burly, bearded 53-year-old appeared conflicted and his eyes were puffy when his wife Lu Qing was allowed to visit him Sunday, though he seemed healthy, Ms Lu told the Associated Press.

"He has changed," Ms Lu said yesterday. "His mood and demeanour are so different from the simple and spontaneous Ai Weiwei I know.

"It was obvious that without freedom to express himself he was not behaving naturally, even with me."

Ms Lu said she sat face to face with her husband during the meeting in a room at an unknown location and that they were watched by one person while another took notes.

The Foreign Ministry has said Mr Ai is being investigated for economic crimes, but his detention comes amid a crackdown on dissent apparently sparked by fears that uprisings like those in the Arab world could erupt in China.

Mr Ai is famous in artistic circles for performance pieces that explore the dizzying changes happening in China. He is also one of the designers of the "Bird's Nest" national stadium built for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and, in recent years, has emerged as an advocate for victims of social injustice.