Ai WeiWei. Who Am I?
Palazzo Fava, Bologna
September 21, 2024 – May 04, 2025

Palazzo Fava will be hosting an exhibition of work from the creative universe of this Chinese artist and activist from 21 September to 4 May, with major installations, sculptures, videos and photographs occupying the entire space of this historic palazzo in the heart of Bologna. The Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, a long-time defender of human rights, is holding his first solo exhibition in Bologna entitled: “Ai Weiwei. Who am I?”.

As the title, inspired by a conversation between the artist and artificial intelligenc,e suggests, the exhibition at Palazzo Fava presents the artist through the lens of his creative universe, in constant tension between tradition and experimentation, preservation and destruction. Large installations, sculptures, videos and photographs testify to the versatility and depth of his research, with over fifty works of art occupying the entire space of this historic palazzo, from the grand staircase, through the monumental halls and rooms beneath frescoes painted by the Carracci and their school at the turn of the 16th century, right on up to the second floor. 

The exhibition offers visitors a unique opportunity to explore the work of one of the most influential artists of our time. The artworks on display, always striking a balance between China and the West, between the past and the present, address urgent issues of the importance of freedom of expression and information, human and civil rights, migration, geopolitical crises and climate change, prompting us to reflect on such universal themes as freedom, justice, memory and resilience. 

The Greek and Roman mythological scenes in the palazzo’s celebrated Carracci fresco cycle interact with the fables and legends of Chinese culture. In a setting of stories of Jason and Medea or the adventures of Aeneas that adorn the rooms on the piano nobile, we encounter the artist’s kite sculptures depicting fantastic beasts from a bestiary known as the Classic of Mountains and Seas, China’s earliest mythological and geographical text, dating back to the 3rd century BC. Made of bamboo, rice paper and silk, these mythological creatures sway softly in the air, prompting a reflection on China’s history and its extremely ancient cultural identity, which was almost swept away by the Cultural Revolution, and triggering a comparison with today’s China which creates monsters to control the population.

In the exhibition, a number of masterpieces of Renaissance, Baroque and modern painting also undergo this irreverent transformation, for example Giorgione’s Sleeping Venus (Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden) to which Ai Weiwei adds a coathanger alluding to the self-induced abortions practised before abortion was legalised, or Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper (church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan) where the figure of Judas has the features of Ai Weiwei himself. His ironic revisitation of Guido Reni’s Atalanta and Hippomenes (Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte, Naples), Raphael’s Ecstasy of St. Cecilia (Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna) and a Still-life by Giorgio Morandi (Pinacoteca di Faenza), on the other hand, are directly inspired by the Bolognese school of painting and have been produced specifically for the exhibition in Palazzo Fava.  

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