Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads
Ai Weiwei, Bronze, 2010
>>Internationally acclaimed Chinese contemporary artist Ai Weiwei has reinterpreted the twelve bronze animal heads representing the traditional Chinese zodiac that once adorned the famed fountain-clock of the Yuanming Yuan (Old Summer Palace), an imperial retreat outside Beijing. The "Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads; Bronze" is the artist's first major public sculpture project.
Designed in the 18th century by two European Jesuits serving in the court of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) of Emperor Qianlong, the twelve animal heads originally functioned as a water clock-fountain in the magnificent European style gardens of the Yuanming Yuan. In 1860, the Yuanming Yuan was ransacked by French and British troops, and the heads were pillaged. In re-interpreting these objects on an oversized scale, Ai Weiwei's "Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads" focuses attention on issues of looting and repatriation, while extending his ongoing exploration of "fake" and the copy in relation to the original.<<
This exhibition, April - October 2016, was organized by the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy and presented in collaboration with AW Asia. The exhibition was funded by the Greenway Conservancy and private donors,
Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads
Ai Weiwei, Bronze, 2010
>>Internationally acclaimed Chinese contemporary artist Ai Weiwei has reinterpreted the twelve bronze animal heads representing the traditional Chinese zodiac that once adorned the famed fountain-clock of the Yuanming Yuan (Old Summer Palace), an imperial retreat outside Beijing. The "Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads; Bronze" is the artist's first major public sculpture project.
Designed in the 18th century by two European Jesuits serving in the court of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) of Emperor Qianlong, the twelve animal heads originally functioned as a water clock-fountain in the magnificent European style gardens of the Yuanming Yuan. In 1860, the Yuanming Yuan was ransacked by French and British troops, and the heads were pillaged. In re-interpreting these objects on an oversized scale, Ai Weiwei's "Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads" focuses attention on issues of looting and repatriation, while extending his ongoing exploration of "fake" and the copy in relation to the original.<<
This exhibition, April - October 2016, was organized by the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy and presented in collaboration with AW Asia. The exhibition was funded by the Greenway Conservancy and private donors,