On a recent trip to Tawain, I had the pleasure of visiting ‘Ai Weiwei Absent’ at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum to see his first major exhibition in the greater Chinese region. Ai was not allowed to attend his own exhibition, which partly inspired the title of the show. However, it was an exciting opportunity for mainland Chinese to finally see some of the infamous works that preceded Ai’s 81-day detention and following house arrest in Beijing.
Photographs were not allowed to be taken in the museum, but I sneaked a few anyway (and I think Ai would appreciate that).
The photograph above greeted viewers upon entrance to the main exhibition space, which set an interesting tone for the show.
Other standout works were a surveillance camera and several hard hats carved out of pure marble, and the massive “Forever Bicycles,” which consisted of 1,200 bikes welded together. This piece provided a contrasting visual angle to Ai’s usual critique of infrastructural developments, à la Chang’an Street, Second Ring and Third Ring, especially the developments that continue to pave over China’s pedestrian life. The installation reminded me that while China is developing its cities faster than they can be occupied, millions of Chinese live veiled existences in a country suffering from third world dynamics with a first world facade.
I am curious how this exhibition will effect the “Mainlander” perspectives in China and what it will take to make positive improvements for those who are struggling to survive in the wake rapid development, censorship of expression and political persecution.
The following Ai Weiwei quotes are just a few of my favorites because they touch on broader topics that I find extremely important like human rights, social justice and the responsibility artists have to the greater community.
“If our system refuses to communicate, rejecting the idea that everyone is born equal, why should we accept such a system?” -2008 interview with Hans Ulrich Obrist.
“All the ministries of this nation, these men and women, have no shame in becoming the tools of persecution of the political power.” -2011 Twitter post. Source: dawn.com.
“If not for my use of the Internet, I would just be an artist trying to put up a canvas in a gallery or a museum, which has almost no influence for the majority of society.” -Interview with Alison Klayman.
Tagged: Absent, Ai Weiwei, art, China, quotes, Taipei Fine Arts Museum
