Current location:sport >>
Ai Weiwei launches new exhibit, says still trying to understand studio demolitions
sport24874People 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.“Global Groove news portal”。http://israel.bahnsport.org/news-88c599906.html
Related articles
High heat harms cocoa production in Cote d'Ivoire
sportABIDJAN, April 13 (Xinhua) -- The heatwave in Cote d'Ivoire is harming the cocoa sector, causing a p ...
【sport】
Read moreTechnical, technological measures facilitate restoration of seagrass beds
sport(Xinhua) 13:33, July 21, 2023BEIJING, July 21 (Xinhua) -- The approach of summer coincides with the ...
【sport】
Read moreShirley MacLaine has a laugh with friends while enjoying lunch in Malibu
sportShirley MacLaine's 90th birthday is just days away, and as these exclusive DailyMail.com photos reve ...
【sport】
Read more
Popular articles
- Xi Holds Talks with Sierra Leonean President
- Profile: Breaking new ground in intravital imaging
- Feature: Chinese
- China's AI robotic chemist synthesizes catalysts for oxygen production on Mars
- Interview: Racism, abuse of weapons fuel gun violence in U.S. society, says Egyptian expert
- Huawei enhances youth digital skills in Kenya through 5G technology
Latest articles
Wang: China willing to work for global peace and security
China's commercial CERES
Jiangsu continues supporting technological innovation of industries
World's first mountaintop impact crater found in NE China
Zambian bank hails Chinese investment contribution to economic development
Oti Mabuse shares 'sad' update as Saturday Night Takeaway comes to an end after 22 years on screens
LINKS
- China's Tibet Achieves Overall Carbon Neutrality
- Trapped Passengers in Mentougou District of Beijing Safely Transferred
- Torch Relay of 19th Asian Games Continues in Jinhua
- Closing Ceremony of 19th Asian Games Held in Hangzhou
- New Semester for Primary and Middle Schools Begins in Urumqi, Xinjiang
- Torch Relay of 19th Asian Games Continues in Jinhua
- Commodity, Trade Expo Opens in Xinjiang with Focus on Trade Promotion
- Shanghai Hosts Tourism Festival to Boost Consumption
- Dancing Becomes Popular Entertainment in Taxkorgan, Xinjiang
- Guilin Makes Outdoor Sports New Name Card for Tourism