Current location:health >>
Ai Weiwei launches new exhibit, says still trying to understand studio demolitions
health87395People have gathered around
IntroductionBy Anna Cuenca Dissident artist Ai Weiwei on Monday said the Chinese state’s razing of his stu ...
By Anna Cuenca
Dissident artist Ai Weiwei on Monday said the Chinese state’s razing of his studios still fails to make “any sense” to him, as he launched his first design-focused exhibition, due to open in London in April.
Ai’s love of artefacts and traditional craftsmanship will be at the heart of the show which will feature hundreds of thousands of objects collected by the Chinese artist since the 1990s — from Stone Age tools to Lego bricks.
“They are punishing anybody trying to make a question or argument about their legitimacy.”
He has previously spoken of gentrification of whole neighbourhoods and the pushing out of migrant workers as possible reasons for the demolition.
Loss of cultural memory
The son of a poet revered by former communist leaders, 65-year-old Ai is perhaps China’s best-known modern artist and helped design the famous “Bird’s Nest” stadium for Beijing’s 2008 Olympics.
But he fell out of favour after criticising the Chinese government and was imprisoned for 81 days in 2011 and eventually left for Germany four years later.
Design Museum chief curator Justin McGirk said the destruction of the studios and the loss of cultural memory was “very much one of the themes of this show”.
The studios were demolished “by the state as a kind of punishment for his activism”, he said.
“The tension between handmade and industrial made is really the change that’s happened in China over the last 30 years, the tremendous scale of urbanisation and development, which brought with it a lot of destruction a lot of devaluing of history, a lot of wiping away of traditional streetscapes and architectures,” he added.
Embed from Getty ImagesObjects due to go on display include 1,600 Stone Age tools, 10,000 Song Dynasty cannon balls retrieved from a moat and donated Lego bricks which the artist began working with in 2014 to produce portraits of political prisoners.
Ai said that although “in one sense we are more advanced” now, humans were losing touch with the way things are made.
Embed from Getty Images“We lose the emotions, the whole sensitivity, the whole touch, the texture, the smell, the shape of things made by hand,” he said.
The exhibition will also feature a number of large-scale works installed outside the exhibition gallery.
They include a piece entitled “Coloured House” featuring the painted timber frame of a house that was once the home of a prosperous family during the early Qing Dynasty (1644–1911).
The exhibition will run from April 7-July 30.
Tags:
Reprint:Friends are welcome to share on the Internet, but please indicate the source of the article when reprinting it.“Earth Encounters news portal”。http://egypt.elfsignes.com/content-44d699954.html
Related articles
'Constantly learning' Imanaga off to impressive start with the Chicago Cubs
healthCHICAGO (AP) — The road for Shota Imanaga from Japan to the major leagues included at least one shar ...
【health】
Read moreRapper Lil Meech takes his mom and grandma to a STRIP CLUB to get lap dances for Mother's Day
healthFrom cheating accusations to being caught with a gun in his luggage, Lil Meech certainly has a wild ...
【health】
Read moreCan't face the crowds at Yosemite and Yellowstone? These eight lesser
healthFed-up of the seemingly endless influx of travelers at Yosemite and Yellowstone? Good news - there's ...
【health】
Read more
Popular articles
- Yu Darvish extends scoreless innings streak to 25 in Padres' 9
- Suspect in shooting of 2 Jewish men in Los Angeles last year agrees to plead guilty to hate crimes
- Kelly Clarkson calls dating 'awkward' and admits it makes her 'so nervous'
- Suki Waterhouse flashes her midriff in T
- Supreme Court rejects an appeal from a Canadian man once held at Guantanamo
- Blinken's Kyiv song choice raises eyebrows as Ukraine fights fierce Russian attacks
Latest articles
Target to lower prices on basic goods in response to inflation
Al Roker hits out at people judging Kelly Clarkson after she admitted to using a weight
Van der Poel will skip mountain bike event at Paris Olympics to focus on road race
Stock market today: Wall Street rises toward records after inflation finally slows
Brazil replaces injured goalkeeper Ederson in Copa America squad
A Swiss court sentences a former Gambian interior minister to 20 years for crimes against humanity
LINKS
- China Focus: E
- Xi Meets Sogavare, Urging Enhanced China
- Nation ranks 2nd for new unicorns in '23
- EU's probe into Chinese wind turbines suggests trade protectionism, economic coercion: CCCEU
- 85 ancient tombs unearthed in Upper Egypt
- Financial aid backs equipment renewal
- Chinese dancing master Yang Liping gives performance in Tianjin
- Special freight train to help stabilize mainland supply of goods to Hong Kong
- Xi Encourages Young Researchers to Make Breakthroughs in Cutting
- Polar icebreaker Xuelong 2 receives warm welcome in Hong Kong