Liu Xia is a Chinese painter, poet and photographer. 
She was married to the Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo (1955-2017).


Liu Xia married Liu Xiaobo during his detention at a reeducation center in 1996. 
Although Liu prefers a single life as an intellectual, 
she was often forced to take a stand for her husband, 
and was considered his main connection to the outside world. 
As the wife of China's most well-known human rights lawyer, 
Liu himself was repeatedly subjected to repression 
and has been under constant observation since the arrest of her husband. 
Since her marriage, Liu has repeatedly commented on the situation of human rights
in China, albeit more cautious from the time her husband was imprisoned.
Despite these circumstances, she continued to try to lead as normal a life as possible.
As an artist, Liu created The Silent Strength of Liu Xia, 
a collection of 25 black and white images created between 1996 and 1999, 
while her husband was detained for the second time in a labor camp.
On 10 July 2018, Liu's house arrest was lifted after eight years 
and allowed her departure for medical treatment in Germany, 
where she arrived on the same day.