Ai Weiwei exhibits in Vienna and mourns the “unstable foundation” of democracy

According to the dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, the theme of an ambitious retrospective in Vienna, Russia's invasion of Ukraine highlights the “unstable foundation” of democracy.

When the artist presented an exhibition entitled “In Search of Humanity” held on Wednesday at the Albertina Museum of Contemporary Art, he told journalists that “I suddenly feel that the foundation on which freedom lies is being broken.”

At the age of 64, Ai Weiwei expressed his fear of “peaceful life after World War II” and calls Russian aggression “unacceptable.”

This exhibition in Austria is the one that best reflects not only the evolution of his political activism, but also his work to this day.

Several works are on display that evoke people who avoid war and persecution. Among them, several life jackets collected at the foot of the Greek island of Lesbos are arranged around a huge crystal ball with lotus shaped installations.

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

In issues such as deprivation of liberty, a treadmill was discovered that his friend Julian Assange used during his stay at the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

Piety and humor are also present, as in a series of photographs of Ai Weiwei's famous obscene finger gestures aimed at places such as the ceremonial gate of Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

The picture is placed under a four-letter insult (“FUCK”), illuminated with neon.

Ai Weiwei especially intensively uses LEGO as a support to recreate the Saudi flag, which contains the last words spoken by journalist Jamal Khashoggi when he was assassinated at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018 instead of the Islamic faith profession. “I can't breathe.”