by AFP Workers Writers
New Delhi (AFP) Jan 15, 2026
The primary solo exhibition in India by Chinese language dissident artist Ai Weiwei opened Thursday, that includes sculpture, set up and combined media spanning his profession, in addition to his “homage” to the nation.
The son of a revered poet, 68-year-old Ai is maybe China’s best-known fashionable artist.
He helped design the well-known “Chicken’s Nest” stadium for the 2008 Beijing Olympics however fell out of favour after criticising the Chinese language authorities and was imprisoned for 81 days in 2011. He finally left for Germany 4 years later.
His present at New Delhi’s Nature Morte gallery comes as India’s relations ease with neighbouring China, though the world’s two most populous nations stay strategic rivals within the area.
“That is my first exhibition in India… though there are solely a dozen of my artworks, it covers a number of key factors that hint greater than 20 years,” the artist, who didn’t attend the opening, mentioned in a press release.
Gallery co-director Aparajita Jain mentioned the present aimed to broaden understanding and creative change.
“We’re merely an area for expression — a spot for dialog the place we are able to find out about artwork practices from around the globe and share histories,” she instructed AFP.
The exhibition consists of Ai’s large-scale Lego compositions “Browsing” and “Water Lilies”, alongside works constructed from porcelain, stone and even buttons.
The exhibition consists of three items made “as a homage to India”, Jain added — toy-brick works based mostly on historic Indian work.
Visible arts scholar Disha Sharma, 20, travelled 90 kilometres (56 miles) from the town of Rohtak to see the opening.
“It isn’t artwork that you just instantly perceive,” mentioned Sharma. “It makes you assume.”
Srishti Rana Menon, an artist based mostly at Nature Morte, mentioned that seeing the work in India was thrilling.
“I’m wondering how he has put each little Lego piece collectively,” she mentioned, praising the “up to date take” on conventional works.
Jain mentioned she hoped the exhibition would sign a broader shift in India’s engagement with world artwork, so that individuals will “not solely search India on the planet” but additionally discover “the world in India”.
Associated Hyperlinks
Democracy within the twenty first century at TerraDaily.com
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