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From This Monday The seven-meter-high installation “Gilded Cage” created by Chinese exiled artist and human rights activist Ai Weiwei will be exhibited at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire.This work was originally for 2017 New York Central Park, Is to reflect the global refugee crisis.Ai Weiwei, 64 years old, currently resident Lisbon. The conversation was conducted by phone last week.
TonTell me something about the gilded cage. How did it come from?
After four or five years of detention, I succeeded soon after I came out of China.I am studying European immigrants to make a movie [Human Flow, 2018] The New York City Public Art Fund asked me to do a project. The Golden Cage is not far from Trump Tower, about three blocks away. It looks like a birdcage, and it is double-layered so that the audience can enter it and see what the world looks like from there.
Why did you choose to put it in Blenheim Palace?
I held an exhibition there in 2014, [the inaugural annual contemporary exhibition]. At that time I couldn’t go abroad to watch the show, but it was really exciting for me. So this time, when they asked for a gilded cage, it reminded me of the show: it has the same vitality and the same humor and the same comment on the current political situation.
When you do the original show you made Some references Blenheim and his connection with Winston Churchill. How interested are you in the details of that period of history?
I know that Churchill is a politician, and I know that many people think he was very brave in ending World War II, but of course, there are always arguments about powerful politicians. To me, this is not really about an important historical figure, but rather that we live in an era where interpretation and judgment are changing.
Blenheim gave a home 400 people evacuated During the war, it was also a monument to nobility and colonial history. What is your understanding of British history over the years?
Well, I’m still digging.When i was very young [during the Cultural Revolution in China], My family was sent to Xinjiang Province.my father [who had been a famous poet, critical of Mao] Used to clean public toiletsI remember that I might be 10 years old, and he told me that Britain is a country where the sun never sets because their colony is 100 times larger than the island. This is my first impression of the UK. But of course, we are now in a very different world.
Have a debate Here About public statues and their connection to colonial history.Do you think the statue Like those of Cecil Rhodes Should it be deleted?
I think a public statue is like a seal, or some historical mark. We must respect our memory, but learn from our mistakes. Demolition of a statue is to me like talking about a man getting plastic surgery as he grows older; you know, you think you want to make a change, but not necessarily for the better. The debate is interesting, but illogical.If you follow [its argument], Most buildings will be destroyed because they are from that colonial period.
I know some people object to installing your cage in Blenheim, From historic England, He argued that it was “inconsistent with the visual characteristics of primary listing sites.” Are you involved in this controversy?
I don’t want to discuss it in detail, partly because art is always there for people to explain in the way they want. I welcome the many disputes over art in Britain.
Do you think our so-called “culture war” is a sign of healthy democracy?
This is not only about democracy, but also about art as a symbol of our existence. You know, whenever we talk about democracy, we are never talking about a perfect country, but constantly questioning and arguing. [Public monuments] It’s about us, about those issues, not about any authority.
This pandemic has clearly exacerbated all questions about authority around the world.I was watching Crowned [Ai’s recent, extraordinary documentary, filmed by eyewitnesses, about the first months of lockdown in Wuhan]In addition to being a powerful fact film made, it feels almost like a prophecy or a warning of a more dystopian future…
That is my intention. You can watch this movie from a historical perspective, but it also examines how China works. We still don’t know where this virus came from-this is very disturbing.
What do you think of these reports In the press In the past few days, the US intelligence agency said that the doctors of the Wuhan Institute of Virology were hospitalized in November 2019?
I think anyone who is a little smarter can understand that this epidemic is related to the Wuhan Research Institute. [the institute strongly denies any such link and none has been proved]. They have been talking about how they separated these different kinds of viruses there for years. In China, there are fewer philosophical or moral questions about the extent to which humans can conduct such research. They want to be advanced. Not just China.Now everyone too know Some of the center’s funding comes directly from the United States. China is not China now. They are connected to the United States and the West in all aspects. This is true not only in economics and banking, but also in universities and research fields.
You must be frustrated, but perhaps you are not surprised that big platforms such as Amazon or Netflix did not choose to show or carry your Wuhan movies.
I am not surprised. All companies in the West have the same conclusions.You know, it’s not about China For them, it’s just for profit.Why are they angry China If they want to make money?
It was great to watch some shots from Wuhan-from inside the hospital and the enclosed part of the city. How did you get that movie and did it affect the people who made it?
I know there are a group of people out there that might be able to do this. As soon as the pandemic started, I contacted them and said, “You must stay in the hospital as a patient, or something.” They shot with an iPhone. You know, China is strange: it’s hard to break in there, but once you are inside, behind the mask, you can usually shoot.
However, I assume that your movie has not been released in China?
No, of course, you can’t even mention my name there. But I want to tell you an interesting story. The secret police sometimes contact my 88-year-old mother. They did this just to let her know that they were looking at her.When Crowned After they came out, they told her “Your son really got into a big trouble”, the word they used translated into “He broke the sky” because I talked about the pandemic. Of course my mother is worried. I contacted the security police to see if they would watch this movie. I posted the link. I received a note that said “Weiwei, you made a very beautiful movie. Your movie reflects the situation here. You made an honest movie.” This is a reminder to me. Surprising, shocking. But later in the West, they thought that this movie would disrupt China. You know, the world today is very interesting. very complicated.
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