Art
Ai Weiwei: artwork from life jackets
Flotsam and jetsam of rescued refugees and a Chinese temple are the focal point of the exhibition “translocation – transformation” in Vienna. Ai Weiwei visualized again the refugee issue in his art.
Viewed from a distance, they look like stylized water lilies: 1005 used to rescue the West, the refugees at Greek beaches and back to left. A total of 201 floating rings, the Chinese artist has placed Belvedere in the Park of the Viennese castle – in the Form of a large “F”. With this image to bring the despair of the Affected expression, advocates of the Chinese concept artist Ai Weiwei for more humanity. “This tells a lot about our time,” he said at the opening of the exhibition “translocation – transformation” on Wednesday (13.07. 2016) in Vienna.
Artists with a migration background
“I didn’t think that I will learn with the age of 55, nor is it a new Chapter on humanity”, said Alfred Weidinger. The curator of the exhibition pointed to Ai Weiwei’s strong political and artistic Engagement for refugees. Visibly moved, he mentioned the Shitstorm that is beaten contrary to the artist after he had staged the photo of a dead refugee boy on the beach photographically re -. Ai Weiwei has made a number of Works and a documentary film on the refugee problem.
Art installation on the theme of refugees in the Park of castle Belvedere
The 58-year-old Chinese artist and regime critic Ai Weiwei, who has been living for a year with his wife and son in Berlin, a refugee himself: “I am grown up many years in refugee camps, while my father had to clean public toilet facilities.” In the run-up to the Vienna exhibition, he said he didn’t know exactly what it means to be discriminated against and suppressed.
Gigantic and Tiny
Especially for this exhibition an ancient Chinese ancestral hall was divided into 1300 parts of China to Vienna by ship. In the 21er Haus, the 14-Meter-high wooden building is set in from the late Ming dynasty (1388-1644) and then again in detail.. The temple once belonged to a Chinese tea merchant family, which was expelled at the time of the cultural revolution.
The fragile building is now shown for the first Time outside of China. Not only is the goal – in this case, the arrived temple count, but also the way of the work of art to Europe, said curator Alfred Weidinger. Therefore, he had arranged that you can track via GPS the Transport on the Internet.
The artist is filming for his documentary with young Palestinians in Gaza
But it is not only a monumental Work, Ai Weiwei typical, are seen in Vienna, but also small objects such as a tea leaves custom-built tiny house, which is, in turn, on a tea leaf.
rf/hm (dpa/orf.at)