Ai Weiwei exhibits in Vienna and laments the “shaky foundations” of democracy

Russia's invasion of Ukraine highlights the “shaky foundations” of democracy, according to dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, whose work is the subject of an ambitious retrospective in Vienna.

“It suddenly feels that the foundations on which freedoms lie are being broken,” the artist told journalists when he presented his exhibition entitled “In Search of Humanity”, which opens on Wednesday at the Albertina Modern Museum.

At 64, Ai Weiwei expresses fear for “our seemingly peaceful life since the Second World War” and calls the Russian invasion “unacceptable”.

This exhibition in Austria is the one that, in his opinion, best reflects his work to this day, as well as the evolution of his political activism.

Several works are presented that evoke those fleeing war and persecution. Among them, several life jackets, collected from the shores of the Greek island of Lesvos, arranged around a giant crystal ball, in a lotus-shaped installation.

What the artist, known for his political commitment, calls the current “crisis of human rights and freedom of expression”, is embodied in a life-size replica of the cell where he was arrested and interrogated after being arrested by Chinese police in 2011.

On this same issue of deprivation of liberty, the treadmill used by his friend Julian Assange during his stay at the Ecuadorian embassy in London is discovered.

Irreverence and humor are also present, as in the series of photos of Ai Weiwei's famous obscene finger gesture aimed at places such as the ceremony gate of Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

The photos are placed under a four-letter insult (“FUCK”) illuminated in neon.

Ai Weiwei also makes intensive use of Legos as a support, especially to recreate the Saudi flag. Instead of the Islamic profession of faith, the flag bears the last words spoken by journalist Jamal Khashoggi during his assassination in 2018 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul: “I can't breathe.”

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