(Vienna) Russia’s invasion of Ukraine highlights the “shaky foundations” of democracy, according to dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, whose work is the subject of an ambitious retrospective in Vienna.
Posted yesterday at 10:07 a.m.
“You suddenly feel that the foundations on which freedoms are based are being shaken,” he told reporters, unveiling the exhibition entitled In search of humanity which opens Wednesday at the Albertina Modern museum.
At 64, he expresses fears for “our seemingly peaceful life since the Second World War” and condemns the Russian aggression which he considers “unacceptable”, saying he is concerned about the divisions which are multiplying.
“Cold War psychology is not going to work”, adds this emblematic figure of the Chinese protest.
This exhibition in Austria is, according to him, the one that most widely evokes his work to date. Until September 4, she traces the evolution of her political activism over several decades.
Wars and persecutions
PHOTO JOE KLAMAR, AGENCY FRANCE-PRESSE
This exhibition in Austria is, according to Ai Weiwei, the one that most extensively evokes his work to date.
Several works are presented evoking those fleeing war and persecution. There is an arrangement of life jackets collected from the shores of the Greek island of Lesbos, arranged around a giant crystal ball in a lotus-shaped installation.
This piece is also representative of the monumental nature of much of the work on display, which includes over 50 tons of material.
What the visual artist, known for his committed positions, calls the current “crisis of human rights and freedom of expression” is embodied in a life-size replica of the cell where he was detained and questioned after his 2011 arrest by Chinese police.
Next to it, a set of dioramas depict scenes from his interrogation like dystopian dollhouses.
On this same theme of deprivation of liberty, we discover the treadmill used by his friend Julian Assange during his stay at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.
PHOTO JOE KLAMAR, AGENCY FRANCE-PRESSE
There is also irreverence and humor, as in the series of photos of Ai Weiwei’s famous middle finger pointing at sites such as Beijing’s Tiananmen Square ceremonial gate. They are placed under a neon-lit four-letter insult (“FUCK”).
In a work of strong emotional impact, a huge installation uses twisted rebar salvaged from a school destroyed in the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan, which killed more than 80,000 people.
A tribute to the thousands of child victims of poor construction against a background of corruption.
There is also irreverence and humor, as in the series of photos of Ai Weiwei’s famous middle finger pointing at sites such as Beijing’s Tiananmen Square ceremonial gate.
They are placed under a neon-lit four-letter insult (“FUCK”).
Ai Weiwei also makes extensive use of Lego as support, in particular to recreate the Saudi flag. Instead of the Islamic profession of faith, the flag bears the last words spoken by journalist Jamal Khashoggi during his 2018 assassination in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul: “I can’t breathe”.