Pavilion 13 at VDNH opened an exhibition of the world-famous artist Ai Weiwei. The project “Three perfectly proportioned spheres and military camouflage, fabricated from white” is a metal installation, covered with military fabric (not really) and fabricated from white white color Culture editor of Vogue Ukraine Daria Slobodyanyk sat down with the brilliant artist and talked about those who are important to be in Ukraine during the hour of war; about Kiev, Kharkov and Ai Weiwei's love for cats.
“I’m not afraid to go to Ukraine – I’m nervous, I’ve experienced a lot. And all my friends are deeply impressed by this trip.”
Advertising.
The 68-year-old Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, recognized by Art Review magazine as one of the world's most prominent activists, an activist, a dissident and the son of a dissident – the Chinese poet Ai Qing, who was exiled from his homeland at the same time for 20 years rokiv to the cordon with Southern Korea, – speak quietly, quietly, reaching out the words. We are meeting in the hall of Pavilion 13 – a cultural space at VDNG, where within a year the first personal exhibition in Kiev will open and there will be a public interview with veteran and human rights activist Maxim Butkevich, two fates of the Russian population.
For those who are not afraid of Ai Weiwei being in Ukraine, I believe: his previous arrival flew into the Kharkiv region, depriving the military positions to the Charter battalion (and the date has come Interview with the writer and military service member of the “Charter” Serhiy Zhadan, sitting on the square of the Kharkiv Derzhprom, which was repeatedly hit by Russian shells). Ai Weiwei went to Kharkiv region to film a documentary. Well, at that hour, when Ai Weiwei arrives at Pavilion 13 at VDNG, where a number of journalists are watching, in Kiev the alarm signal sounds, but the artist reacts to him routinely.
These military trips will begin in 2025 – this will be our first visit to Kiev, but not our first try. In 2010, the artist will fly to the capital of Ukraine at the request of the PinchukArtCentre to join the jury of the international Future Generation Art Prize. Ale at the control at the Beijing airport, he was arrested by officers and blocked from depriving the country – first in his biography. For the River Ai Weiwei, he was arrested and served 81 days under arrest for fabricated evidence, but in fact for criticizing the government and systematic mystical projects-vicrity.
The work on the Kiev exhibition “Three perfectly proportioned spheres and military camouflage, pofarbovaniy u bіlé” was almost two years in the making. Ai Weiwei knows that the biggest outcry was that “the Russian-Ukrainian war is still going on, and everyone is thinking about being checked for the local context.” “The idea that came to my mind is difficult to go through a complex analysis: how to accept it in Ukraine, which will not be distributed to the audience, which is ethical. Alas, fortunately, we missed the Ribbon organization, the team that helped get into context.”
Ai Weiwei's exhibition will take place in a special location. Filled with verdant sunshine, Pavilion 13 on the green fields of VDNG is restored by the studio “Form” of the Radyanska sporuda, prompted in the 1960s to demonstrate the achievement of the people's rule of Donbass. Now the “Pavilion of Culture” has been built here – space for exhibitions, concerts and public events.
In the main hall for several months of Ai Weiwei’s exhibition, three majestic spherical forms took up residence in Mitz’s New York studio. Ix Ai Weiwei has already studied in the work of Divina proportione 2004 rock – these metal spheres, inspired by the illustrations of Leonardo da Vinci. For Ai Weiwei, these spheres symbolize the ideals of order and rationality. For the Kiev exhibition, the skin of these spheres was covered with camouflage shirts covered with white tarpaulin – apparently sent before the military events in Ukraine.
Even before the opening of the exhibition, the idea of installation with a military form attracted criticism from the side of the Ukrainian marriage, and even for Ukraine, the military form is a symbol of defense and struggle, and it is made from a white color, which may accept it as an image and a sign of surrender. It’s hard to look at Ai Weiwei’s prote robot literally – because it’s important to admire this fabric, it becomes clear that this is not military camouflage, but images of… cats.
“I invented and designed this print, and the fabric was produced at a factory in China,” says Ai Weiwei. — They were going to sew tunics from her that would resemble the Ukrainian military uniform — we used the same tapes and patterns, and we specifically asked our partners to send them to us. There is actually an image of a cat on the fabric. These are all my cats – in my life I have owned at least 40 of them. I just love cats and respect that these creatures also suffer greatly in the hour of tragic events.”
Like always, the work of the Chinese mitsa is symbolic and richly spherical. One of Ai Weiwei’s most famous works is the installation “Nasty Dormouse” 2010. Then, having fallen asleep at the Tate Modern gallery in London, there are a series of dormouse with portlets, hand-painted by Chinese painters. The guards were simply walking around, as if there was little embellishment in sight, but in reality it was inspired by Ai Weiwei’s reflections on the exploitation of robot workers. In the Kiev project, which has produced some camouflage in white colors, Ai Weiwei languishes about reality and unreality, disinformation and the way we deceitfully perceive light.
The artist knows that it was important for him to be present in Kiev and to really live in good faith. “Ukraine is now the most unexplored arena of war in the world. So, we marvel at the new things, but we forget that there are real people behind them. I came here and talked to them – farmers, military officers, artists. I asked: why Are you fighting? Since I’ve been busy with the topic of people’s rights, I’m here to check with myself: am I really fighting for this – for the protection of rights? Are my statements about it being avoided?
When I finally ask how to play the role of Mitzi in the war, the artist seems to be close to the approach of documentarians or pre-successors. “All my life I have experienced tragedies: having carried out research into the victims of the earthquake in Sichuan (in 2008) and among others, taking the lives of thousands of children through the collapse of schools, caused by unclear materials. Ai Weiwei conducting an investigation and calling out officials for corruption and finding the real facts of the tragedy, for which they began to re-investigate – Ed.); what mysticism can do Telling the world about human tragedies is my way.”
The exhibition was implemented as an initiative of the international organization RIBBON International, which is involved in cultural projects in Ukraine in the hour of full-scale war.
Exhibition “Three thoroughly proportioned spheres and military camouflage, fabrications in white” trivatime in Pavilion 13 near Kiev until 30 leaf fall
Photo: Vic Bakin
