At Berlin’s Aedes Architecture Forum, the exhibition ‘Five Working Spaces’ invites visitors to glimpse into Ai Weiwei’s studios across continents. On the occasion of the opening on May 23, 2025, designboom spoke exclusively with the artist, uncovering how each workspace embodies his political convictions, personal history, and creative vision. A central focus of the exhibition is Ai Weiwei’s most recent studio in Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal, built using traditional Chinese woodworking methods. 

‘My studio is an extension of my body and mental state,’ Ai Weiwei tells designboom. ‘Of course it’s political. Anyone who sees the exhibition can understand — it’s not that I want it to be political. It just is political.’

all images courtesy of Aedes Architecture Forum and Ai Weiwei Studio, unless stated otherwise

ARTIST, ARCHITECT AND ADVOCAT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Rather than illustrating architectural typologies or design processes, ‘Five Working Spaces’ explores Ai Weiwei’s studios as existential conditions, rooted in the artist’s early experiences of political exile. Born in Beijing, Ai Weiwei spent his formative years in remote regions of China, where his father, the poet Ai Qing, had been banished during the Anti-Rightist Movement. Known for his outspoken critique of authoritarian systems and his advocacy for human rights, Ai Weiwei ranks among the most influential figures in contemporary art and activism. His wide-ranging practice — spanning art, architecture, film, and social engagement — merges traditional Chinese craftsmanship with global aesthetics and personal narrative.

Five Working Spaces on view at Aedes Architecture Forum until July 02, 2025 | image © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

FIVE WORKING SPACES AT AEDES ARCHITECTURE FORUM IN BERLIN

The exhibition ‘Five Working Spaces’ at Aedes Architecture Forum traces key chapters of the artist’s life through the lens of architecture, presenting five studios located in Beijing, Shanghai, Berlin, and Montemor-o-Novo. Designed, commissioned, and inhabited by Ai Weiwei himself, each workspace mirrors shifting personal and political realities, documented through architectural models, photographs, drawings, and personal texts.

‘What’s similar is that all of them are tied to one individual – me – trying to fit myself into a working condition. But that condition is always changing. It’s more about connecting to my life, to the conditions I was given, the environments I lived in, how I grew up, how I became an architect, how I acted during moments of social and political change,’ he reflects in our conversation.

Ai Weiwei working on still life in his studio, Caochangdi, Beijing, 2000

His first studio in Longzhuashu, Beijing, redefined an austere concrete courtyard with a quiet gesture: planting Danish grass. The transformation was subtle, yet symbolically powerful — an act of reclaiming space through care. In the early 2000s, he designed his compound in the Caochangdi district, also in Beijing, which soon became a hub for artistic collaboration and large-scale installations. Both spaces would later be demolished by authorities, along with others: the Malu Studio near Shanghai in 2011, dismantled shortly after completion, and the Zuoyou Studio in 2018, destroying works still stored inside.

‘I’m used to irrational violence and no explanation. You cannot figure out the logic. You just take it and survive in it,’ the artist recounts, reflecting on these losses. ‘I grew up in that kind of environment. I was born into it. My father was exiled the year I was born. As demonstrated in the exhibition, I lived underground with my father — in a black hole.’

demolition of the Shanghai studio in Malu

In Berlin, Ai Weiwei established a studio in the cellar of a former brewery — an underground, introspective space that resonates with the years he spent in forced exile alongside his father in remote Xinjiang. Tucked away beneath the surface, for the artist, working underground is not only a physical experience, but also an emotional excavation, shaped by reflection and a return to memory.

Speaking to designboom, Ai Weiwei elaborates on this temporal shift: ‘I’m considered a contemporary artist, but my deepest emotions are connected to the past. I’m not familiar with German culture, because I don’t speak the language. I always relate my practice to the past. I appreciate human memory. Without memory, we don’t know who we are or where we come from. Then we can’t appreciate our current condition.’

inside Ai Weiwei’s studio in Berlin, 2018

The most recent of Ai Weiwei’s five working spaces lies in Montemor-o-Novo, a rural town in southern Portugal. The expansive wooden structure draws on traditional Chinese joinery, assembled without nails or screws. Designed with 100 regular columns and a rotated roof that echoes his demolished Malu Studio near Shanghai, the building stands as a monument to craftsmanship and cultural memory. This fifth studio, completed in 2023, resists categorization. Officially registered as a warehouse, it contains no defined program. 

‘Architecture is part of our body — our state of mind and physical condition,’ reviewing the decision to settle in Portugal, Ai Weiwei notes a change in pace and outlook. ‘I want a location that’s peaceful and quiet. A place where you can look at the sky and realize there are stars. In the morning, you can see the sun rays. In the evening, the moon comes up. That fits my psychological condition today.’

timberwork of the Portugal studio in Montemor-o-Novo | image © Yanan Li

Ai Weiwei’s Portugal studio in bird perspective

his fifth studio, completed in 2023

Montemor-o-Novo Studio, nine-part representation model | image © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

exhibition view | image © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

project info: 

name: Five Working Spaces

artist: Ai Weiwei | @aiww
location: Aedes Architecture Forum, Berlin, Germany | @aedesberlin

dates: May 24 – July 02, 2025

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Ai Weiwei turns his attention to New York‘s Roosevelt Island with an upcoming installation that quietly unsettles the familiar landscape of Louis Kahn’s Four Freedoms Park. Announced as the inaugural project of the Art X Freedom program, Camouflage will stretch a canopy of netting across the park’s narrowest point, inviting visitors to consider what is hidden, what is revealed, and what must be protected.

The intervention at Roosevelt Island draws a line between the peaceful solemnity of Kahn’s granite geometry and the turbulent associations of camouflage. Using scaffolding to suspend netting over a bust of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the installation gestures toward both disguise and exposure, engaging with the four freedoms Roosevelt famously championed — speech, worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.

‘Camouflage’ will open on Roosevelt Island in September 2025. Set against the Manhattan skyline, In response to the nation’s turbulent and discouraging political climate, the work will invite Americans to consider freedom not as a guarantee, but as a living question.

visualization courtesy the artist, Four Freedoms Park Conservancy

Animal Silhouettes woven into camouflage patterning

Ai Weiwei describes the Roosevelt Island installation as rooted in the double meaning of camouflage: a shield against harm, but also a tool for deception. The work becomes a lens to question which freedoms today are sheltered.

The artist adds an unexpected softness to the formal landscape of the park by embedding silhouettes of cats into the camouflage pattern. A tribute to the Wildlife Freedom Foundation’s nearby animal shelter, this detail shifts attention from the human-centered language of freedom to the silent suffering of animals during human-made crises, adding a quiet undertow of vulnerability to the piece.

The work marks the inaugural installation for the Art X Freedom program, a new initiative from the Four Freedoms Park Conservancy that will commission site-specific works interrogating justice, protection, and human rights. The quiet force of Weiwei’s approach suggests that these installations will not merely occupy the park, but engage it in an ongoing conversation.

Four Freedoms Park, image © designboom

a New Chapter for Public Art on Roosevelt Island

Ai Weiwei’s plans for Roosevelt Island include an interactive component: visitors will be invited to write reflections or hopes onto ribbons, tying them into the netting. This participatory element folds personal narratives into the larger fabric of the artwork, allowing the installation to breathe and change over time as new messages accumulate.

The choice of scaffolding and camouflage material resonates with the architectural rigor of Roosevelt Island’s Four Freedoms Park. Kahn’s monumental stonework provides a stage where the temporary, flexible structure of Camouflage can flicker against the permanence of the site, layering past and present into a shared space of reflection.

Ai Weiwei’s upcoming debut at Roosevelt Island follows a growing trend of art programming at Four Freedoms Park. In 2025, artist Cj Hendry drew crowds with her colorful Flower Market installation, which had to be relocated due to overwhelming attendance.

project info:

name: Camouflage

artist: Ai Weiwei | @aiww

location: Four Freedoms Park, Roosevelt Island, New York

presented by: Four Freedoms Park Conservancy | @4freedomspark

opening: September 2025

visualization: courtesy the artist, Four Freedoms Park Conservancy

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Galleria Continua presents Neither Nor, a sprawling exhibition that explores the multifaceted career of Ai Weiwei, one of the most influential contemporary artists working today. The historic cinema-theatre space in San Gimignano has been transformed to showcase a selection of new works created with LEGO bricks alongside established pieces crafted from porcelain, wood, marble, bamboo, and various assemblages.

The exhibition’s title itself holds significance. Ai Weiwei criticizes the current trend of cultural extremes, where complex issues are reduced to black and white. He highlights the dangers of such binary thinking, citing historical periods like the Soviet purges and the Cultural Revolution in China where absolute truths led to human rights violations. Neither Nor emphasizes the importance of ambiguity, a grey space where diverse perspectives can flourish and debate is encouraged.

exhibition view, San Gimignano, 2024, courtesy Ai Weiwei Studio and Galleria Continua
all images © Ela Bialkowska, OKNO studio

Explorations with LEGOs showcased at galleria continua

The exhibition Neither Nor defies attempts to categorize artist Ai Weiwei. Sculptor, painter, filmmaker, architect — his artistic practice encompasses a vast array of mediums, drawing from art, personal life, and political activism. Deeply rooted in Chinese tradition, he playfully reinterprets motifs and materials, exposing the contradictions between the individual and the social order in the modern world.

The first floor of Galleria Continua’s space features works created entirely from LEGO bricks. For Ai Weiwei, these colorful blocks serve as a personal language, conveying stories about his life and childhood. He draws parallels between LEGOs and ancient mosaics, highlighting their shared ability to create complex images through individual units. He finds a connection between their modularity and his social media presence, where fragmented realities are constantly reshaped and shared.

exhibition view, San Gimignano, 2024, courtesy Ai Weiwei Studio and Galleria Continua

A Journey Through History, Reinterpreted

The exhibition takes viewers on a historical journey, beginning with the Renaissance. ‘Sleeping Venus with Coat Hanger’ reimagines Giorgione’s painting by juxtaposing the goddess of fertility with a coat hanger, a stark reminder of unsafe abortions before legalization. Similarly, ‘The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus in Untitled (After Rubens)’ employs LEGOs to restore vibrancy to Rubens’ masterpiece while adding a panda, a symbol of contemporary Chinese power.

Ai Weiwei’s artistic responses extend to current events as well. Seurat’s ‘Un dimanche après-midi à l’Île de la Grande Jatte’ is reinterpreted with the image of a refugee, a commentary on the French burkini ban. Van Gogh’s ‘The Sower’ is overlaid with the image of a locust invasion that devastated Pakistan in 2020.

The impersonal nature of LEGOs translates the Mona Lisa, here smeared with cake by an environmental activist, and the Last Supper, where Ai Weiwei replaces Judas. The exhibition continues with works addressing war, gas leaks, and the downing of a Chinese air balloon, highlighting urgent contemporary issues.

exhibition view, San Gimignano, 2024, courtesy Ai Weiwei Studio and Galleria Continua

The exhibition’s historical pieces include ‘Treasure Box’ (2014) which showcases intricate inlay designs, while ‘Marble Cube’ (2010) merges minimalist sculpture with traditional Chinese marble memorials. ‘Porcelain Cube’ (2009) reflects the Qinghua style of blue and white porcelain. The garden space features ‘Pick Up Stick’ (2006), a traditional game with roots in ancient China, and ‘Pillar’ (2006), massive porcelain vases pushing the boundaries of this revered material.

exhibition view, San Gimignano, 2024, courtesy Ai Weiwei Studio and Galleria Continua

‘Stools’ in the stalls area utilizes nearly 3,000 stools from various Chinese dynasties. Connected to form a vast wooden plane, these timeworn objects speak to the enduring nature of Chinese design. The exhibition concludes with ‘Huantou Guo’ (2015), a fantastical creature crafted from bamboo and silk. Inspired by ancient Chinese mythology, this large-scale kite sculpture exemplifies Ai Weiwei’s ability to bridge tradition with contemporary artistic expression.

exhibition view, San Gimignano, 2024, courtesy Ai Weiwei Studio and Galleria Continua

exhibition view, San Gimignano, 2024, courtesy Ai Weiwei Studio and Galleria Continua

Ai Weiwei, Pollock in Blue, 2019, toy bricks (LEGO), courtesy Ai Weiwei Studio and Galleria Continua

exhibition view, San Gimignano, 2024, courtesy Ai Weiwei Studio and Galleria Continua

project info:

exhibition title: Neither Nor

artist: Ai Weiwei | @aiww

gallery: Galleria Continua | @galleriacontinua

location: San Gimignano, Italy

on view: April 13th — September 15th, 2024

photography: © Ela Bialkowska, OKNO studio | @okno.studio

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Between January 11 and March 31, 2024, Ai Weiwei poses 81 questions to artificial intelligence, for his latest project dubbed Ai vs AI. Marking the very first time that the artist has used AI for his art, the project spans 81 days, mirroring the duration of Ai Weiwei’s confinement in a Chinese prison back in 2011. Featuring a spectrum of philosophical, political, and scientific fields, each question contemplates humanity’s role in an ever-evolving world amidst global crises and advancing technologies. ‘This is not about freedom of speech. This is about freedom of questions,’ says Ai Weiwei. ‘Everybody has the right to ask questions.’

These seemingly unanswerable questions are broadcasted daily by the art and culture platform CIRCA, illuminating London’s Piccadilly Lights and other global locations, including Seoul, Berlin, and Milan. Ai Weiwei aims to share his insights into these questions, while both his responses and the AI’s answers are presented through CIRCA’s website and social media channels.

who am I? – Ai Weiwei: this is the ultimate question: who am I in opposition to the world? similarly, it delves into whether I am a part of the world, or the world is a part of me. this question remains unsolvable in reality. – artificial intelligence (AI): the question ‘who am I’ delves into personal identity and existential inquiry. it prompts individuals to reflect on their self-awareness, values, experiences, and the factors that define their sense of being. it is a philosophical and introspective question with subjective answers. *source: ChatGPT | image courtesy of CIRCA unless stated otherwise

ai weiwei’s 81-day quest for freedom through questions

Over the course of 81 days, the artist poses questions directed at both artificial intelligence and the broader public. Presented every evening at 20:24 local time on Piccadilly Lights, the questions vary from philosophical and scientific to humorous and absurd.

The project draws inspiration from Tiānwèn (天問, translated as ‘The Heavenly Questions’ or ‘Questions to Heaven’), a collection of 172 queries to the gods inscribed on a temple’s walls 2,300 years ago by the legendary poet Qu Yuan. At the same time, it draws a parallel to Ai  Weiwei’s 81-day imprisonment by the Chinese Communist Party. During his time in prison, Ai Weiwei was subjected to continuous interrogation by an authority that wielded its absolute power through mass manipulation of information: an unequal right to ask questions and have them answered.

can you describe a sunset using only numbers? – Ai Weiwei: unless we assert that numbers have the capacity to articulate anything including a sunset, numbers are incapable of expressing it. – artificial intelligence (AI): providing a numerical description of a sunset is challenging as it is a sensory and visual experience that cannot be fully captured by numbers alone. *source: ChatGPT

what is the one question you would like to ask humans? – Ai Weiwei: this question should be answered by AI. – artificial intelligence (AI): ‘How can humanity collectively strive for a more equitable and sustainable future?’ *source: ChatGPT

do you believe in karma? – Ai Weiwei: the concept of karma, originating from Buddhism, invites skepticism: does every action truly entail consequences? karma may not reveal itself within an individual’s lifetime. whether one engages in virtuous or malevolent deeds, the belief that karma manifests promptly is not universally held. the dichotomy of good and bad actions arises from the karma of our value judgments and interpretations, eluding concrete quantification. nevertheless, a certain inclination persists to embrace the notion that karma exists. – artificial intelligence (AI): belief in karma varies among individuals and cultures. it is a concept suggesting that one’s actions in this life or previous lives influence their future experiences. *source: ChatGPT

ai vs AI – BTS image | image courtesy of Leroy Boateng

ai vs AI – BTS image | image courtesy of Leroy Boateng

ai vs AI – BTS image | image courtesy of Leroy Boateng

project info: 

name: Ai vs. AI
artist: Ai Weiwei | @aiww

presented by: CIRCA | @circa.art 

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Renowned Chinese artist Ai Weiwei collaborates with TASCHEN to unveil an exclusive collection of fine art jewelry—the Gold Zodiac Charms. Inspired by his seminal 2010 sculpture series, Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads, Ai Weiwei explores the elaborate fabric of Chinese mythology. Beyond being wearable art, the distinctive collection serves as cultural symbols that traverse centuries. Each charm, crafted from 999 pure gold, draws from the animal figures highlighted in the artist’s prior work, encapsulating both the personal and historical importance associated with the Chinese zodiac.

Ai Weiwei and his Zodiac Charms | all images courtesy of TASCHEN

Exploring the Cultural Significance of Ai Weiwei’s Zodiac Charms

The limited-edition collection by Ai Weiwei (find more here) and TASCHEN (find more here) delves into the narrative of the Great Race, recounting the origin and order of the twelve animals in the Chinese Zodiac. Originating from the Twelve Earthly Branches used to organize time, the animal zodiac comprises Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. These animals govern a lunar year, influencing the characteristics of those born during their respective spans and symbolizing the twelve double hours of the day. The hierarchy stems from a mythical race to the Jade Emperor’s birthday, with the rat claiming the midnight hour by ingeniously riding the Ox across a turbulent river.

As part of Ai Weiwei’s ongoing exploration of Chinese history, beliefs, and craftsmanship, he notably reinterpreted the Zodiac in his 2010 public sculpture, Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads. This artwork reflects his contemplations on cultural dialogue, war, authenticity, and national values. Recreating the zodiac figures from an 18th-century fountain in Beijing’s Old Summer Palace, Weiwei intertwines the history of the zodiac signs with the story behind the animal heads.

The collection encourages wearing zodiac signs as charms, a tradition dating back to the inception of the zodiac concept. Appropriately, each charm’s reverse side features the animal sign’s name in Chinese small seal script, an ancient form of calligraphy standardized during the Qin dynasty around 220 BCE. Sculpted based on its appearance in the Circle of Animals, the Zodiac Charm is hand-cast in 999 pure gold. 

the limited-edition charms come in a bright red packaging

each charm is hand-cast in 999 pure gold on a red silk string

the necklacee with all the zodiac charms

Naomi Campbell and the Zodiac Charms by Ai Weiwei

the ram charm

the dog charm 

each charm’s reverse side features the animal sign’s name in Chinese

the ox charm

the rooster charm

the tiger charm

project info: 

name: The Ai Weiwei Zodiac Charms
artist: Ai Weiwei
in collaboration with: TASCHEN

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The Design Museum in London has unveiled a significant new piece by Ai Weiwei in advance and in time for his first design-focused exhibition Ai Weiwei: Making Sense, which will premiere starting April 7th, 2023. Weiwei reproduces one of Claude Monet’s most well-known paintings for the exhibition made entirely out of 650,000 LEGO pieces.

It is Weiwei’s largest Lego creation to date which is over 15 meters long piece, titled Water Lilies #1. It covers the entire length of one wall at the Design Museum gallery and is built of 22 different colors. By recreating this famous scene, Ai Weiwei challenges our ideas of reality and beauty. The new image has been constructed out of Lego bricks to strip away Monet’s brushstrokes in favor of a depersonalized language of industrial parts and colors.

These pixel-like blocks suggest contemporary digital technologies which are central to modern life, and in reference to how art is often disseminated in the contemporary world. Challenging viewers further, included on the right-hand side of Ai’s version is a dark portal, which is the door to the underground dugout in Xinjiang province where Ai and his father, Ai Qing, lived in forced exile in the 1960s. Their hellish desert home punctures the watery paradise.

images courtesy of Design Museum | photos © Ela Bialkowska, OKNOstudio

LEGO Water Lilies by AI WEIWEI

Water Lilies #1 will be seen alongside another major new Lego artwork by Ai Weiwei, which is also making its international debut at the Design Museum. First announced in January, Untitled (Lego Incident) is part of a series of five expansive ‘fields’ where hundreds of thousands of objects will be laid out on the gallery floor.

In this field, visitors will see thousands of Lego blocks which were all donated to the artist by members of the public from around the world, in response to Lego briefly refusing to sell their products to him in 2014. These donated bricks are presented at the Design Museum for the first time as fully-formed artwork.  Ai Weiwei: Making Sense will be the artist’s very first exhibition to focus on design and architecture. It sees Ai using design and the history of making as a lens through which to consider what we value.

Other highlights of the exhibition include dozens of objects and artworks from throughout Ai Weiwei’s career that explore the tensions between past and present, hand and machine, precious and worthless, construction and destruction, such as his Han dynasty urn emblazoned with a Coca-Cola logo, which epitomizes these clashes. 

project info:

name: Ai Weiwei: Making Sense

artist: Ai Weiwei

exhibition location: The Design Museum

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The exhibition ‘States of Violence’ in London brings together the work of leading artists and agitators, unveiling forms of government oppression. Running from March 24, 2023, to April 8, 2023, the rebellious show is presented by the non-profit London-based arts organization a/political, marking an outstanding collaboration with WikiLeaks — the well-known NGO that operates a whistleblowing news site. 

‘States of Violence’ battles for our freedom of speech in the modern era we are going through, exposing top-secret government cables and classified media, never before available in hardcopy in the UK. The works created by iconic names such as Ai Weiwei, Dread Scott, and The Vivienne Foundation, among others, put the spotlight on global power structures, releasing material for the darkest truths of our modern reality. The display also includes hard copies of documents leaked in 2010 by Wikileaks’ founder and journalist Julian Assange, also fighting for his freedom, as he has been detained at London’s high-security Belmarsh Prison since 2019. ‘When the stakes are this high, telling the truth is a radical act,’ stated Joseph Farrell, Wikileaks Ambassador and Chloe Schlosberg, Wau Holland Foundation.

‘Wonderland’ by South African conceptual artist Kendell Geers

largest-ever physical publication of top-secret embassy cables

Wikileaks (see more here) and a/political (more here) join forces for a protest through art and culture against diplomatic scandals, from war and torture to police brutality and surveillance. Among the artworks is Ai Weiwei’s photography series ‘Study of Perspective’, which sees the iconic Chinese artist raising his middle finger to architectural structures that depict institutional authority. Other highlights include the ‘SECRET+NOFORN’ (2022) (meaning no foreign nationals), an artwork by the Institute for Dissent & Datalove, which contains the highest classification of cables from the 2010 WikiLeaks Cablegate publication of U.S. diplomatic cables.

‘Humans can be held by walls. Armed guards can watch their every move. Governments can do their utmost to stop their voices reaching the outside world. But ideas cannot be caged. States of Violence brings this truth to life and demonstrates through art and culture that imprisoning Assange won’t stop what has been set in motion, the truth cannot be untold. Hasta la Victoria siempre!’ shared an ambassador for WikiLeaks. ‘There is no fight more important than the fight for our freedom of speech. Culture is the last free space in which these secrets can be exposed,’ added a spokesperson for a/political.

‘Study of Perspective HoP’ by Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian, and activist Ai WeiWei

The whistleblowing news site WikiLeaks changed the course of history, publishing over 10 million documents of censored or restricted official materials since its launch in 2006. This action allowed whistleblowers worldwide to reveal sensitive documents while maintaining anonymity.

As a direct result, Wikileaks’ founder Julian Assange was arrested on Espionage charges in London and remained in Belmarsh Prison, facing extradition to America, where he could receive 175 years under Espionage Act. ‘The American Espionage Act of 1917 prohibits obtaining information, recording pictures, or copying descriptions of any information relating to the national defense with intent or reason to believe that the information may be used for the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation.’ To this day, anybody who opens one of the 66 books from ‘SECRET+NOFORN’ (2022) is at high risk of being prosecuted under this more than one hundred year old act.

This exhibition stands not as a gesture for Assange but rather as a means to raise awareness about our freedom of speech. Entering the space, visitors are surrounded by diplomatic cables, an action that metaphorically takes the viewer against the extradition under the 1917 Espionage Act — ‘a movement that seeks to expose the invisible danger of the law to us all.’

‘SECRET + NOFORN’ by Institute For Dissent and Datalove

Artists, musicians, and activists will all raise their voices through their art. According to a/political, an accompanying public program will be hosted by hip-hop artist and activist, Lowkey. A live music event, hosted as a collaboration between a/political, Wikileaks, Wau Holland Foundation, and Shangri-La Glastonbury, will be held as closing at EartH on April 8, 2023.

‘Camp 6, Mobile Feeding Chair’ by British artist and photographer Edmund Clark

‘Political Prisoners in Contemporary Spain’ by Spanish artist Santiago Sierra

‘Obliterated Power Pentagon’ by Dread Scott

project info:

exhibition name: ‘States of Violence’

by: a/political | @apoliticalorg in collaboration with Wikileaks | @wikileaks

location: The Bacon Factory, 6 Stannary Street, Kennington, London SE11 4AA

dates: from March 24, 2023, to April 8, 2023

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The Design Museum in London celebrates Ai Weiwei’s very first design-focused exhibition with its ‘Ai Weiwei: Making Sense’. Running from 7 April to 30 July 2023, the show will feature works never shown before in the UK, as well as major new pieces by Ai Weiwei including large-scale works installed throughout the venue. Visitors are invited to engage with the stunning installations and wander among them, ‘encountering thousands of years of human ingenuity’. 

‘This is an exhibition focussed on a very specific concept: design. I had to think about how we use the space in the Design Museum as a whole, and the exhibition offers a rich experience of what design is, and how design relates to our past and to our current situation,’ said the Chinese contemporary artist. 

Ai Weiwei, Colored House, 2013. © Image courtesy Ai Weiwei Studio

large scale installations take over the gallery

Well-known for his powerful art and activism, Ai Weiwei’s practice glides across many disciplines embracing art, design, architecture, curation, photography, film, and social, political, and cultural crafts. ‘Ai Weiwei’s fields are extraordinary, and they tell a story of human ingenuity that spans millennia. The fields are a meditation on value — on histories and skills that have been forgotten, and on the tension between the industrial and the handmade. Their scale is unsettling and moving, and in trying to make sense of these works the visitor is challenged to think about what we value and what we destroy,’ shares Justin McGuirk, the Curator at the Design Museum (see more here) and the exhibition.

According to the press release, a series of major site-specific installations will take over the core of the exhibition. From Stone Age tools to Lego bricks, dozens of objects will be spread across the gallery floor in a series of five expansive ‘fields’. These items have been collected together by Ai Weiwei since the 1990s, and are ‘the result of his ongoing fascination with artefacts and traditional craftsmanship’. The five work fields include: ‘Still Life’, ‘Left Right Studio Material’, ‘Spouts’, ‘Untitled (Porcelain Balls)’, ‘Untitled (Lego Incident)’. 

© image courtesy Ai Weiwei Studio

Throughout the gallery, visitors will discover objects and artworks from Ai Weiwei’s vast career that ‘explore the tensions between past and present, hand and machine, precious and worthless, construction and destruction.’ Highlights are his ‘Han dynasty urn’ decorated with a Coca-Cola logo, as well as a number of examples of Ai’s day-to-day objects that turned into something useless but valuable. For example, a worker’s hard hat is cast in glass, gaining both a strong and fragile silhouette, and a sculpture of an iPhone that has been cut out of a jade axe-head. Furthermore, on display will be pieces that reference the Covid-19 pandemic which exposed human dependence on humble things. Three toilet paper sculptures: two life-size rolls (one in marble and one in glass) as well as a 2-meter-long sculpture in marble which is being displayed for the first time. 

Large-scale installations like the ‘Colored House’ will be installed outside of the exhibition gallery, enticing passers-by’s attention. The timber frame of a house once belonged to a prosperous family in Zhejiang province, in eastern China, during the early Qing dynasty (1644 – 1911 CE). Utilizing industrial colors, Ai Weiwei has painted the house blending ancient and modern touches and has lodged it on crystal bases ‘giving presence and status to this unlikely survivor’.

Ai Weiwei, Still Life, 1993-2000 | © Image courtesy Ai Weiwei Studio

Ai Weiwei at the Design Museum, September 2022. © Rick Pushinsky for the Design Museum

Untitled (LEGO Incident) | © image courtesy Ai Weiwei Studio

Untitled (LEGO Incident). © Image courtesy Ai Weiwei Studio

Ai Weiwei, National Stadium, 2005-2007 | © image courtesy Ai Weiwei Studio

Ai Weiwei, Spouts, 2015 | © image courtesy Ai Weiwei Studio

Ai Weiwei, Marble Takeout Box, 2015 | © image courtesy Ai Weiwei Studio

project info:

exhibition name: Ai Weiwei: Making Sense

artist: Ai Weiwei

location: The Design Museum, London | @designmuseum

dates: 7 April – 30 July, 2023

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Ai Weiwei participates at this year’s Engadin Art Talks (E.A.T.) from 27 to 29 January, 2023, in Zuoz, Engadin. Under the theme of HOFFNUNG? HOFFNUNG! / HOPE? HOPE!, the weekend-long event will explore the different meanings of hope through the lens of the creative, humanitarian and scientific fields. Part of this year’s panel of international speakers, the Chinese artist leads a diverse and prolific practice driven by his social activism and political beliefs. Encompassing sculptural installation, filmmaking, architecture, photography, ceramics, painting, writing and social media, his artistic work moves between modes of production and investigation.

As an activist, he has been critical of the lack of respect for human rights and freedom of speech in China, which, in 2011, led to his arrest and consecutive 81-day detention on charges of tax evasion. Continuing to speak out on social and political issues he believes important, Ai Weiwei has emerged as one of the leading cultural figures of his generation in China and beyond. ‘Artists are usually understood as people who undertake a particular kind of work,’ Ai Weiwei tells designboom ahead of his talk at Engadin Art Talks. ‘This understanding is wrong. In fact, artists are people who think independently, have independent perceptions, and attempt to find their own ways of expression to exchange ideas, almost instinctively.’ Read our interview with the artist in full below.

Portrait of Ai Weiwei © Ai Weiwei Studio

INTERVIEW WITH THE ARTIST

designboom (DB): How does the 2023 Engadin Art Talks theme, HOPE? HOPE!’, relate to your practice?

Ai Weiwei (AW): My work is mainly about trying to explain my relationship with myself and the world. This explanation is usually about who I am and what kind of world I live in. The question of who I am can only be raised through reflections and expressions. If there is any hope in our life, this hope encompasses desperation, disappointment, all our aspirations, what we consider to be correct, how we hope to be understood, and how we understand other people’s worlds. Hope will remain hope if it is not acknowledged and confirmed by reality.

Ai Weiwei, ‘Gilded Cage’ at Central Park, image © designboom | more here

DB: What is the role of an artist within our current sociopolitical landscape?

AW: Artists are usually understood as people who undertake a particular kind of work. This understanding is wrong. In fact, artists are people who think independently, have independent perceptions, and attempt to find their own ways of expression to exchange ideas, almost instinctively. All the effort of artists reflects human beings’ most important activities; any individualistic thinking about human nature will be an artists’ language.

Law of the journey, 2016 | image by Carol Quintanilha, more here

DB: You recently signed a series of blank A4 sheets of paper with invisible UV ink, and gave them out for free in Hyde Park on the occasion of Human Rights Day. Can you tell us more about this initiative? 

AW: Free speech and free expression are the most important foundation stones of human rights and humanitarianism. Although the concept of human rights has been established for a long time, not everyone can clearly express its concrete ideas, attributes, and ways of expression. For me, free expression is the most important part of human rights.

On the Human Rights Day, the act of signing my name on sheets of A4 paper in UV ink and distributing them to people who came for one at Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park is very symbolic. It symbolizes two things. Firstly, free expression needs to have a unique language that belongs to each individual and is expressed in accordance with their relationship with the world, and the attributes of the sociopolitical environment in the world nowadays. Secondly, free expression is a behavior that is gradually shrinking and losing its value system. In our environment today that is generally considered as democratic, free, and open, free expression is still a very rare behavior.

 

 

 

 

 

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DB: Art for Tibet, the annual fundraiser supporting the fight for the Tibetan people’s fundamental human rights and freedom, included your work, ‘Hanger’, while you are also part of the honorary committee. How did you become involved with Art for Tibet, and do you have more plans to support their mission in the future?

AW: People who are persecuted by autocratic regimes, be they Tibetans, Uyghurs, or other peoples in other countries and areas, need to form their own voice and expression. It is the only way to hold on to the common vision: human society cannot be dissociated from basic fairness and justice. When it is still possible for me, I will continue to support groups and people who lack a platform for their own voices and expression.

Ai Weiwei, Hanger, Stainless steel, 8 5/8 x 18 7/8 x 3 in, 2012 | image via Art for Tibet / Bidsquare

DB: In 2022 you had your first exhibition of glass sculptures in Venice, while Vienna’s Albertina Modern gallery held your biggest retrospective to date. Do you like doing exhibitions? Do you prefer theme-specific shows, or bigger ones where you can touch on more themes? 

AW: Exhibition is just one way of expression. It exists within a cultural framework and in collaboration with institutions as a form of compromise. As a matter of fact, there are many other ways of expression, e.g., internet, social media, film, and writing. Every medium has its own attributes and its own path of creativity. Exhibition is not the only way of expression for me.

Ai Weiwei, ‘La Commedia Umana’ at the Roman National Museum, image by Daniele Peruzzi | more here

DB: What are you working on at the moment?

AW: I can summarize it as a retrospective résumé of my past life in old age. In the process I hope to be enlightened in my understanding of life and go through the rest of my life more wisely.

DB: Are you optimistic about the future?

AW: I don’t think we have the so-called future. Our future is just an integrated concept that combines today and yesterday. I am not too optimistic about that.

Ai Weiwei, ‘La Commedia Umana’ at the Roman National Museum, image by Daniele Peruzzi | more here

image courtesy E.A.T. / Engadin Art Talks Stiftung

project info:

event: E.A.T. / Engadin Art Talks 2023

2023 theme: HOFFNUNG? HOFFNUNG! (HOPE? HOPE!)

duration: 27-29 January, 2023
location: Zuoz, Engadin, Switzerland and online

tickets: Eventbrite

E.A.T. / Engadin Art Talks is a Forum of art, architecture, design, literature, and innovation that regularly takes place in Zuoz in the Swiss Engadin valley. With a year-round public programme, E.A.T. brings together catalyst thinkers from the creative and scientific disciplines to share their ideas and expertise while posing challenging new questions. By doing so, E.A.T. aims to find novel perspectives on relevant topics that define our present and shape our future.
Since its foundation, E.A.T. has featured more than 330 international speakers and contributors. In addition to the annual Forum in Zuoz, E.A.T. presents a nomadic series of talks and collaborations with international institutions throughout the year in some of Europe’s cultural capitals to pursue its mission abroad. E.A.T. was founded in 2010 by Cristina Bechtler together with Hans Ulrich Obrist.

The post ai weiwei: ‘free expression is the most important of human rights’ – interview ahead of E.A.T. appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

Ai Weiwei has long been intrigued by the relationship between humans and animals. These living beings usurp the time Weiwei could have invested in rather mundane tasks and nudges him to invest his effort in detailed research that taps into his passion for documentation and marks his ever-expanding oeuvre. In one of his moments, the Tibetan rugs and the theme of tigers came up, and Weiwei has since then latched onto the idea of materializing them in real life one day. That day has finally come. With ‘Tyger,’ Weiwei spins and weaves his Tibetan- and tiger-inspired vision into a hand-knotted, hand-spun, and hand-dyed natural Ghazni wool rug.

Tyger (2022) by Ai Weiwei forms part of the exhibition ‘Tomorrow’s Tigers’ in Sotheby’s London, a featured project of the World Wildlife Fund for Art For Your World in 2022. It aims to raise funds for and awareness of tiger conservation coinciding with this year’s Lunar Year of the Tiger and marking the culmination of the global commitment to double the number of wild tigers by the end of 2022. Curated by Artwise and produced by Christopher Farr, Weiwei and other invited artists, including Anish Kapoor, have been asked to design a rug in response to tiger conservation. When Weiwei received the invitation from WWF to design a tiger rug for the project, he did not think twice and snapped up the opportunity to voice his advocacy, one that is dear to him.

images courtesy of Art For Your World | photos by Thierry Bal

Ai Weiwei reflects on the design of his tiger rug

Ai Weiwei took his time contemplating what design would go into his rug. He might have revisited his anecdotes in the past, rifling through the digital and physical pages where he jotted down his observations and activism or re-reading philosophical and scientific findings about the essence of tigers and the data regarding its decline in population. Time finished passing with him holing up in his own space, and Weiwei opened his doors to his viewers for the outcome he invested his time in. Gracing ‘Tyger’, the traditional colors of orange for the body, white for the claws and details, and black for the animal print appear evident in Weiwei’s design.

Instead of letting the tiger pad through a forest or between growing bamboo, Weiwei flattens his tiger on the rug. He stretches the animal in a counter-clockwise manner, seemingly concealing what the tiger is going through from behind as the viewers could only see what is happening up front. Its head lies on the upper part of the canvas while its tail splats on the bottom. The look of the tiger resembles a dragon’s face, the one often depicted in the Chinese New Year celebration. Since the event overlaps with this year’s Lunar Year of the Tiger, the artist might have drawn some of his influences from this joyous well. There is space at the center of the beige-colored carpet for the formation of an X shape, perhaps an urgent call to the viewers to take action and somewhat a foreshadowing of what might happen if tiger preservation becomes unresponded.

Ai Weiwei has long been intrigued by the relationship between humans and animals

Tolerance and understanding are rare to find

Ai Weiwei believes that human civilization can only be measured by looking at how human beings treat and form a bond with other living beings, animals included. As written on the Art For Your World page, Weiwei notes that this concept looms over people’s tolerance and understanding towards other species and the well-being of all life. The way people interact with living beings might denote the depth of their respect for themselves and how much they value what life and Earth have given them.

‘As a matter of fact, this kind of tolerance and understanding are very rare and difficult to find. Through the rug design, I hope to be able to do something for tigers; the meaning of their existence surpasses the scope of our comprehension, and yet 95% of tigers in the wild have gone extinct over the last 100 years, very sadly,’ says Ai Weiwei in the quote in Art For Your World.

Weiwei reminds the viewers that protecting endangered animals is a kind of self-love, ‘without which we would all be living in a savage land.’ Along with him, the artists who will present their made-to-order rugs include Francesco Clemente, Peter Doig, Bernard Frize, Gary Hume, Reena Saini Kallat, Maya Lin, Harland Miller, Raqib Shaw, Kiki Smith, and Rose Wylie. The rugs will be exhibited this autumn at Sotheby’s, London from November 24th to 29th and available to buy online.

Tyger (2022) by Ai Weiwei forms part of the exhibition ‘tomorrow’s tigers’

the exhibition aims to raise funds for and awareness of tiger conservation

the project aims to the commitment of doubling the number of wild tigers by the end of 2022

Tyger (2022) by Ai Weiwei

Weiwei did not think twice when he was invited to design a tiger rug

Ai Weiwei took his time contemplating what design would go into his rug

the rugs will be exhibited this autumn at Sotheby’s, London from november 24th to 29th

Tyger (2022) by Ai Weiwei

project info:

name: Tomorrow’s Tigers

artists: Ai Weiwei, Anish Kapoor, Francesco Clemente, Peter Doig, Bernard Frize, Gary Hume, Reena Saini Kallat, Maya Lin, Harland Miller, Raqib Shaw, Kiki Smith, Rose Wylie

project: Art For Your World

exhibition location: Sotheby’s London

exhibition dates: November 24th to 29th, 2022

The post ai weiwei designs tibetan tiger rug to advocate the animal’s conservation appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.