Ai Weiwei: Evidence / Retrospective at Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin

Ai Weiwei (born 1957) is an artist, architect and politician. With the solo show Ai Weiwei: Evidence, the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin has prepared one of the biggest exhibitions of Ai Weiwei to date. In 18 rooms and in the spectacular Court (Lichthof) the retrospective features works and installations that were either designed specifically for the building or have not yet been shown in Germany. This video takes you on a walk through the exhibition.

Our tour of Ai Weiwei: Evidence begins in the Entrance Hall of the Martin-Gropius-Bau with the installation Very Yao (2009) and an installation in the The Court which is assembled with 6,000 simple wooden stools (Stools, 2014). The video continues with the large rooms that follow: Souvenir from Shanghai (2012), He Xie (2011), Diaoyu Islands (2014), Forge (2008-2012), Forge Bed (2008-2012), IOU (2011-2013), the video documentation Wenchuan Rebar (2012), Rebar in Marble (2012), Container (2013), Han Dynasty Vases with Auto Paint (2014), Circle of Animals (2011), Monumental Junkyard (2007), Table and Chest with stripped Chairs (2007), One Man Shoe (1987), Study of Perspective (1995-2011), Coffin (2005), Hanger (2013), Beijing: The Second Ring (2005), Beijing: The Third Ring (2005), and finally the works 81 (2013), 4851 (2013) and Untitled (2011). Gereon Sievernich (Curator and Director of the Martin-Gropius-Bau) provides us with an introduction to the exhibition. The beginning and the end of this report features an inserted video message which was pre-recorded by Ai Weiwei in China. The show runs until July 7, 2014.

Ai was the artistic consultant for design, collaborating with the Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, for the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Summer Olympics, also known as the “Bird’s Nest.” Solo exhibitions include the Brooklyn Museum of Art (2014); The Museum of Contemporary Art Oslo (2014); MUSEION – Museum für moderne und zeitgenössische Kunst, Bolzano (2014); Galleria Continua – Le Moulin, Boissy-le-Chí¢tel (2014); PinchukArtCentre, Kiev (2014); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City (2014); Perez Art Museum Miami – PAMM, Miami (2013); Crow Collection of Asian Art, Dallas (2013); The Cleveland Museum of Art (2013); Indianapolis Museum of Art (2013); Galeria Pilar, São Paulo (2013); Kunsthaus Bregenz (2011); Museum of Asian Art, Berlin (2011); Tate Modern, London (2010), etc.

Ai Weiwei’s work was included in the 55th Venice Biennale of Art (2013); Curitiba Biennial (2013); Kochi-Muziris Biennale (2012); The Busan Biennale (2012); Ukrainian Biennale of Contemporary Art, Kiev (2012); Moscow Biennale of contemporary art (2011); Venice Architecture Biennale (2010); Sao Paulo Biennial (2010); Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art (2008); Documenta 12 in Germany (2007); The 5th Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art in Australia (2006); Busan Biennial in Korea (2006); The 2nd Guangzhou Triennial (2005); 1st Monpellier Biennial of Chinese Contemporary Art in France (2005); 1st Guangzhou Triennale in China (2002) and 48th Venice Biennale of Art (1999).

Ai Weiwei: Evidence at the Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin (Germany); Interview with Gereon Sievernich (Director of the Martin-Gropius-Bau) and pre-recorded video message by Ai Weiwei; April 2, 2014. Video and interview by Frantisek Zachoval.

> Right-click (Mac: ctrl-click) this link to download Quicktime video file.

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