Ai Weiwei's bronze Zodiac Heads at Somerset House. All Photos: Kirsten Amor

Nearly three months after his arrest by Chinese authorities on claims of tax evasion, the sculptor and outspoken dissident Ai Weiwei was released yesterday.

Ai Weiwei’s relationship with his country has always been complex, and his work both embraces and tackles China’s cultural and political heritage. Chinese authorities seem to have the same approach toward him; he was asked to build the famed Birds Nest Stadium for the 2008 Olympics, but he has also been detained several times for criticising China’s authoritarian regime.

It is no wonder then that the interest in Ai Weiwei has never been stronger, and London is a particularly good demonstration of that fact. Following his much-lauded Sunflower Seeds exhibition at the Tate Modern, his work is now on display at two London locations: the Lisson Gallery and Somerset House.

The Lisson Gallery exhibition

The Lisson Gallery Ai Weiwei exhibition, which runs through 16 July 16, is a tribute to China’s Cultural Revolution. Among the works on display are the Colored Vases, which feature 2000 year-old Han Dynasty pots covered in industrial paint.

As the gallery describes it, “Ai’s continued desecration of individual vases can be seen as political comment on the organized destruction of cultural and historical values that took place during the Cultural Revolution, when everything old was replaced by the new.”

Other pieces in the exhibit include marble surveillance cameras and video pieces, one of which travels along Beijing’s central road to modern day Tian’anmen Square.

The Somerset House exhibition

Closer to the Thames, Weiwei’s Zodiac Heads exhibition is the first contemporary sculpture ever to be featured at Somerset House. Until 26 June, visitors can view the larger-than-life sculptures for free against the stunning backdrop of Somerset House and its picturesque fountain courtyard.

Each of the bronze sculptures featured in Zodiac Heads took several months to complete, using metalworking to form the base of the artwork, and gradually sculpted using clay and finally encased in bronze. As reinterpretations of the renowned Haiyantang Zodiac fountain sculptures, they are approximately twice as big as the originals. In recreating these sculptures, Ai Weiwei intended to explore the concepts of ‘fake’, ‘authentic’, and ‘repatriation’, and their affect on art.

Gwyn Miles, director of Somerset House, hopes this exhibition will be the first of many contemporary exhibits at the House. “Ai Weiwei is an artist who has expressed interest in thinking about whether things are authentic or fake, and how the value of art changes depending on the political climate. This exhibition demonstrates these points really rather well, since it is the second edition of a monumental work, it questions in a number of ways where art comes from and who it belongs to. We’re very keen to juxtapose the historical setting of the courtyard with contemporary art in lots of different forms.”

‘Public’ art

As for the installation’s display in the unlikely location of Somerset House, he is convinced the public space is the ideal location, stating “I am fascinated by making public art. ‘Public’ does not just refer to the museum public; it’s for people passing by and using communal spaces. I think the public deserve the best. In the past, only a pope or an emperor had access to the artworks they commissioned. I want my work to be accessible to everyone. As Yuanming Yuan was being built, Somerset House was being constructed and for me this means that the Courtyard is the perfect setting for Circle of Animals.”

The sculptures are interpretations of the original zodiac heads that formed the water-fountain clock at Yuangming Yuan summer palace. Originally crafted by European Jesuit craftsmen in the 18^th century at the court of Emperor Qianlong, they were intended to function outside the European-style gardens of the palace. However in 1860 Yuangming Yuan palace was ransacked by British and French troops and the sculptures were looted, and have gradually appeared in private collections.

Over the years controversy has followed the sculptures, with public disputes occurring between auction houses and the Chinese authorities, demanding that the sculptures be repatriated back to China. Whilst it may appear strange for Ai Weiwei, a Chinese artist, to be the creator of these works, he has never shied away in the past from featuring controversy in his work, and these sculptures are no different.

“Zodiac Heads is the perfect example to show their ignorance of the matter,” he said. “I don’t think that’s a national treasure and they have nothing to do with national treasure. They were designed by Italians and were made by the French for the Chin dynasty emperor. So even if we talk about national treasure I don’t know which nation we’re talking about.”

Who is Ai Weiwei?

Ai Weiwei is the son of revolutionary poet Ai Qing, who was exiled to an outpost in western China for being a ‘rightest’. Spending his childhood in exile undoubtedly planted the seed for his passionate activism against the Chinese government. Much of Ai Weiwei’s artwork follows a conceptual or avant-garde style, which he utilizes as a medium of protest. He has long campaigned against the Chinese authorities on his stance for free speech and human rights, leading several high-profile protests against them. Whilst his open criticism of the Chinese government has earned his work a worldwide following, it has also led to his detainment.

On 3 April, 2011, Ai Weiwei was detained by officials whilst boarding a plane from Beijing international airport. During his detainment he was not allowed to communicate with family and friends. No official statement was released by the Chinese authorities until yesterday, when he was released from custody on the grounds that he agreed to ‘pay back-taxes’ and because of his ill health.

His disappearance and only recent return are all the more reason to promote Weiwei’s vision, so that his life’s work can be seen by the masses despite the Chinese government attempts to silence him.

Ai Weiwei’s Zodiac Heads at Somerset House
The Strand, London WC2R 1LA
Open 7:30 to 23:00 daily until June 26, 2011
Admission free

Ai Weiwei at the Lisson Gallery
52-54 Bell Street, London NW1 5DA

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The Insider is heading up to Alexandra Palace for a benefit event ahead of ATPs exciting summer programme. Photo credit: Alan Stanton

 

Monday
Descending into the CAMP Basement for a night from Robot Elephant Records featuring Ritualz and the Church of Synth, sounds like the sort of religion I could buy into. Especially as it’s promoted by God Don’t Like It. A perfect subterranean antidote to Sunday. Tickets are £6.50 in advance or £8 on the door.

Tuesday
A toss up between philosophical musings on time and perception, or the more concrete issues of housing and population growth at the LSE tonight. Two free lectures both kicking off at the 6.30pm, take your pick, or there is always the podcast option if you don’t want to miss out on either.

Wednesday
Free weekdays are a luxury often best spent in galleries, so while the exhibition of some of Egon Schiele‘s portraits of women at the Richard Nagy Gallery runs until the 30th I’m off to see it this afternoon. Then across the river to the BFI for a lecture accompanying  the Kino Russian cinema season, Oksana Bulgakova examines the use of gestures and body language in Soviet cinema of the 1920s and 30s. 6pm, advance booking is advised.

Thursday
ATP having a few events coming up at Alexandra Palace, and ahead of the likes of Portishead, Grinderman and the Flaming Lips gracing that stage, the promoter is hosting a benefit night for Friends of Alexandra Palace Theatre at the Music Palace in Crouch End. Entry simply requires that you buy at least one £2 raffle ticket to help the cause, and the evening includes a music themed pub quiz plus DJ sets from Fuck Buttons and others. As an extra bonus tickets for ATP events in July will be on sale without those annoying booking fees that are charged online.

The 100 Club has hosted famous rock acts such as the Sex Pistols, the Rolling Stones and Oasis. Photo credit: Lorenza Frigerio

Friday
The 100 Club on Oxford Street is still going, after a campaign to save it last year, and nineties rock/rap crossover band Senser play at this historic venue tonight. The occasion is to mark the launch of a welcome new single, and I’m sure some old favourites will get the crowd going for a nostalgic yet energetic Friday night. Tickets are £9 in advance.

Saturday
Relaxed Saturday, heading down to Bow Arts SE1 Open Studios, which runs through the weekend to see whatever there is to see and possibly engage in a little artistic conversation.

Sunday
Momus is but a legendary name to me, so I’m catching up and listening to a few albums this week ahead of this show at Cafe Oto. Sunday night sit down music for under £10, and a chance to see a sometimes controversial and intriguing figure of recent musical history. Check the link to the biography on the Cafe Oto listing for more information.

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The Truman Brewery on Brick Lane, where the exhibition will run until the end of July. Photo:Bixentro / Flickr

What is believed to be the UK’S largest ever exhibition of student’s art and design has opened in East London. There’s fashion, design, photography and interior architecture. And it gives visitors the chance to enter the world of young and unlimited creativity.The exhibition is open to the public until late July.

The First Pint’s Clémentine Blayo has more.

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It is no different in the arena of performing arts. Artists at this year’s Digital Stages Festival show us just how the latest software and technology has transformed the way they express themselves.

But the big question is: Does it really make any difference to the actual creation of performing art? Our correspondent Heng Lu finds out.

Camera: Cris Reckziegel, Heng Lu

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Comanechi will be performing a charity show for the Japan Tsunami appeal on Sunday. Photo credit: Merok Records / Flickr

The Insider is The First Pint’s expert on all things cool and London. Picking out the best of the week’s events and activities; one-off or regular, unique or mainstream. So we have a day by day selection of the best events to keep you occupied all week long. Enjoy.

Monday 4

Some free synth sounds to start the week as Cold Cave play a free instore gig at Rough Trade East, should you miss out on the freebie they also play the Lexington on Tuesday.

Tuesday 5

In conjunction with a display on Level 3 Tate Modern celebrate the work of Polish couple Zofia Kulik and Przemyslaw Kwiek, collectively known as KwieKulik, with a screening of Activities with Dobromierz  - “a two-year project in which the couple’s child is photographed in various everday situations mixed with propaganda elements characteristic of the time”. Tickets are £7/5 and the include a post screening discussion, the event starts at 6.30pm in the Starr Auditorium.

Wednesday 6

Got to choose a film for the week so why not Bernardo Bertolucci’s Last Tango in Paris. Somehow I’ve never seen it, so this ICA screening at 8.30pm is an ideal chance to deal with that cultural blind spot.

Thursday 7

The first London show by Lebanese artist Rabih Mroue, I, the Undersigned – The People are Demanding, has been running at Iniva on Rivington Street for a couple of weeks now. Tonight there is a free tour of the exhibition, influenced by conflicts in Lebanon and throughout the Middle East by curator Francesco Bernardelli. Starts at 6.30pm.

Friday 8

Unapologetically suggesting the Ether Festival again this week, free lunchtime and early evening music from Mirror (1pm) and Simonsound (5.30pm) in the Royal Festival Hall. With the possibility of a late night at the Queen Elizabeth Hall courtesy of Pantha du Prince(10pm) if finances can stretch to the £14 entry fee.

Saturday 9

One of my favourite art spaces over the last year, the Woodmill in Bermondsey, is sadly set to close. Their final exhibition is fittingly a Studio Artists Group Show of those artists using the site. It opens tonight (7-10pm).

Sunday 10

There have been many benefit events organised in response to the recent Japan disaster, this one features two bands with Japanese connections that I’ve mentioned here before. Courtesy of God Don’t Like It, for a mere £7.50 you can go enjoy the noise and energy of Bo Ningen and Comanechi at the Hoxton Bar and Kitchen, and contribute to the Red Cross tsunami appeal. Event details here.

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The folding crown is the centrepiece of the Afghan exhibit. Photo courtesy of the British Museum © Thierry Ollivier / Musée Guimet

After the Soviet invasion in 1979 and the civil war which followed, Afghanistan’s National Museum was completely destroyed. Its priceless treasures were feared to be lost forever. But a handful of brave Afghan officials risked their lives to save the artefacts from chaos and destruction, storing them into boxes, hidden away.

A unique exhibition at the British Museum, Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World, not only displays 230 pieces of Central Asian treasures spanning 4 millennia of Afghan history, but also promises to tell several stories. Stories about the fragility of cultural heritage and stories of the common men who ended up being heroes of Afghan ancient memory.

Abdul Wasey Feroozi from the Afghanistan’s National Institute of Archaeology is one of such heroes who siphoned away rare artefacts from the National Museum to safer places. He told the First Pint that he considers himself “just a man who did his duty to preserve the best of Afghan cultural heritage from a dangerous situation.”

The exhibition was opened by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the same man who in 2003, after the Taliban regime was toppled by US, announced that six boxes full of objects had been found in a vault at the presidential palace.

“It was an honour for me to be invited when they started to open these boxes in 2004,” National Geographic Society archaeologist Fredrik Hiebert, who spent two years cataloguing the artefacts, told The First Pint. “I feel like I am part of the family that helped recovering these treasures.”

“Some of them had lost their labels, so we didn’t know what was inside,” he said. “I’d like to say if the boxes could speak they would tell a very interesting story.”

“I remember seeing the museum destroyed with my own eyes, with no artefacts inside, and that made me very sad,” Hiebert continued. “But what we learnt was that Afghans themselves had not permitted it to be destroyed”

A Mediterranean feel

A Greek-style statue adorns the entrance to the exhibition. Photo credit: Gianluca Mezzofiore.

The exhibition starts with a quote from Karzai, recalling the Afghanistan as an historical crossroads of many civilizations – Central Asia, Iran, India and China, as well as more distant cultures stretching as far as the Mediterranean. A striking Greek statue of a naked young man, smashed by Taliban in 2001 but now restored for the museum welcomes the visitor as a symbolic entrance to the enigmatic Afghan world.

It comes from the village of Ali Khanum, which developed a quirky Greek-Bactarian style, witnessed by colossal Corinthian capitals, waterspout gargoyles, golden plaques of Cybele, stone bowls and an endless cluttering of Greek myths, gods, and figures.

“When you hear the word Afghanistan, you think of something exotic,” Hiebert said. “But when you walk in this exhibition, the first things you see are classical sculptures which look Greek.”

“The whole idea of the exhibition is to shock the visitors,” he continued. “They have the chance to see beautiful, sophisticated art which looks very familiar to them. So next time they read about Afghanistan in the newspapers, they will have a better idea of why Afghanistan has played such an important role in different cultures.”

Golden crowns and nomadic princesses

A Dragon Master Pendant from Tillya Tepe in northern Afghanistan. Photo courtesy of the British Museum © Thierry Ollivier / Musée Guimet

The main attraction of the exhibition is the so called “flat pack” crown, described as one of the world’s most beautiful and priceless objects. The crown was designed to be dismantled when not used and folded up. It is formed by 5 trees decorated with flowers and attached to a head bone.

Shining and burning like a self-contained star, the crown seems to put magic spell on anyone who dares to stare at it. If you close your eyes, you can almost hear the golden fine pieces jingling as a nomadic woman moves her head.

The crown was discovered along with other outstanding pieces of golden jewellery in 1978, by a Soviet-Afghan expedition. Six undisturbed graves, one man and 5 women, were opened for the first time since 4 thousand years at Tillya Tepe, “the hill of gold”.

“A nomadic princess from ancient Bactria looked straight at us after being hidden for thousands years,” wrote Viktor Sarianidi, the archaeologist head of the expedition.

For the first time, twenty fragments of intricately carved and coloured ivory inlays are on public since the outbreak of war in Afghanistan in 1979. They were stolen during the looting of the National Museum in Afghanistan between 1992 and 1994, but a London-based dealer bought them in order to give them back to its original venue.

The objects were discovered in 1937 and 1939 by French archaeologists excavating an ancient city of Begram, north of Kabul. They found a room filled with treasure, mostly luxury items imported from China, India and Rome.

At the heart of the Silk Road, Begram and its artefacts stunningly portray the trading and cultural connections of Afghanistan, an important crossroads of ancient world, now ready to rise from the ashes of war.

The Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World exhibition runs from 3 March to 3 July. Admission charge £10 plus a range of concessions.

British Museum
Great Russell Street
WC1B 3DG

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In Art on the Table, food is the main focus - including its decay and cultural significance. Photo credit: Jonathan López

In Spain, food is a great part of the culture. Big feasts are one of the rituals where every family awaits especially to gather all of its members. Spanish art has done its best to show food in its different representations.

To reflect this passion for food, the Spanish cultural institute in London, Instituto Cervantes, organised Art on the Table, an exhibition which brings together artists from Spain and the UK whose work focuses on food.

Showcased in the exhibition are two videos from Spanish artist Greta Alfaro, a young Spanish artist studying for a master’s degree in the Royal College of Art in London. In one video, she presents a banquet of vultures. This animal, for Spanish culture and many others, is a symbol of greed and darkness For Alfaro, in this work the vultures represent the values and the rules in the society, whose brutality is something to fear.

Her second video, ‘In Praise of the Beast’, shows a huge cake in the middle of a snowed forest where two wild boars eats ― or, better said, coat themselves in― the sweet. For the artist, the wild boars represent the fear of not knowing what is going to come, the wildness, the dirtiness.

British artist Lynne Collins showed ‘The Trespasser’, a series of photos which presented still lifes taken in the empty rooms of old abandoned mental hospitals, blending darkness and beauty. Collins explained that she was at great risk when she worked on this project: she had to break in to the hospitals which not only were difficult to get in but were about to collapse, adding to the risk.

The curator of the exhibition, London-based Spanish artist Marisa González, also had one work showing what the lemons look like after 18 years. An interesting perspective of how food gone bad can also be beautiful, or at least intriguing.

Other artists featured in the exhibition include Matthew Cowan, Spanish art collective anak&monoperro, and Natuka Hunrubia.

Art on the Table runs until 11 March at the Instituto Cervantes London.

Instituto Cervantes
102 Eaton Square
London SW1W 9AN

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Computer games creator and saxophonist Jim Cuomo is one of the Insider's highlights for the week. Photo credit: Diego DeNicola/Flickr

The Insider is The First Pint’s expert on all things cool and London. Picking out the best of the week’s events and activities; one-off or regular, unique or mainstream. So we have a day-by-day selection of the best events to keep you occupied all week long. Enjoy.

The Insider’s diary is constantly evolving. No, its messier than that. Let’s say it’s a mutating beast. A loosely ordered collection of notes and scrawls, torn pages from listings, beer-stained fliers and hastily snapped photographs of posters in darkened music venues which all contribute to the ordered cultural listing presented here. This week though, if The First Pint hadn’t stepped up to organise an event I’d be starting with a blank page. So this is an exercise in what is possible if you are sitting around on a Sunday morning thinking ‘What can I do with my week?’.

Monday

I understand the arguments against Kings Place. It is out of the way behind Kings Cross station and the space itself can be said to lack character, but personally I like the cavernous culture airport feel and the actual auditoriums are not that austere. Whatever your reaction to the building itself, the Outhear series of Monday nights should have something to entice you. An eclectic mix of contemporary music for under ten pounds, tonight it’s 8-bit computer music pioneer Jim Cuomo who has gone on a musical journey that takes the Gameboy to the concert hall. Come along and be part of the retroVOLUTION!

Tuesday

I found one of those scrawled notes to remind me that Nina Nastasia was due to play The Scala tonight, but sadly I’ve just seen that the gig has been cancelled due to illness, so I’m scrambling around for something else to do. It will be a last minute decision, looking like a very film-heavy week. So I might skip Antonioni’s La Notte (8pm, £5), showing as part of the Jeanne Moreau season at Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, in favour of a night of free music at 93 Feet East on Brick Lane. They are both close enough that I can drop in for a bagel at the top of Brick Lane and see how the mood takes me.

Wednesday

We all know that drugs sell, so the High Society exhibition at the Wellcome Collection on Euston Road has been garnering plenty of publicity. The Packed Lunch: Drugs talk should attract a crowd, being a talk on medical research on illegal substances by someone with a licence to administer them. I take it that no samples will be on offer, but some might question the wisdom of styling this as a ‘bring your own lunch’ event. After a lunch of ketamine and cannabis it seems appropriate to suggest an evening off.

Thursday

The recently inaugurated Iranian Studies Department at SOAS is holding monthly film screenings. This month they offer a rare chance to see The Cow directed by Dariush Mehrjui, a  good example of pre-revolutionary Iranian cinema. The suggested donation to attend the event is £2, but it’s free if you are stuck for funds. The film starts at 7pm in the Khalili Lecture Theatre. Afterwards I’ll be hopping on a bus to Shoreditch to see Cold in Berlin play a free set at the Macbeth on Hoxton Street.

Friday

It’s The First Pint’s Scandinavian Night, why would you be anywhere else? If the lure of free Danish beer and other delights from Europe’s Northern realms can’t tempt you to Bethnal Green maybe the event I crossed out of my diary will be of interest. The Research Group in Philosophy at Goldsmiths are screening Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights, followed by a discussion. It starts early at 5pm, but that means you can still change your mind and join us for a beer afterwards.

Saturday

Earlier this year the British Film Institute’s Sight and Sound magazine published their list of the best films from the last decade. This weekend you have the chance to catch two of them (See Sunday for Tropical Malady at the ICA) and avoid the start of the Christmas shopping rush. Today at the Cine Lumiere see Agnes Varda’s documentary on modern rural poverty, La Glaneurs et la Glaneuse (£9/7, 6pm).

Sunday

The posters have sold me on this one: I can’t claim any advance knowledge of the current exhibition at the Royal Academy, but Pioneering Painters: The Glasgow Boys 1880-1900 has got my attention. It runs until 23 January so please don’t all turn up today. Afterwards I’ll take a short stroll to the ICA, where they are taking advantage of the interest in this year’s Palme d’Or winner, Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul, by showing some of his earlier films. Tropical Malady from 2004 screens at 2pm today.

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The Brooklyn-based band and performance collective MEN will be playing at The Garage in Islington. Photo: Cass Bird

Activism meets creativity as Ladyfest Ten reaches Highbury Road and Holloway Corner to celebrate female talents in all forms. Founded ten years ago in Olympia, Washington, this year’s Ladyfest upholds the tradition of a global, feminist, DIY movement. Ladyfests have been held all over the world from New Orleans to Santos-Brazil.

Events

From 12 to 14 November, you can catch a dizzying array of music, art, comedy, photography, film, debate, and written and spoken word events. The independent festival offers an eclectic selection of music performances – from hip-hop and beat-boxing at the Horatia to electro and riot grrl action at the Relentless Garage, finishing up on a mellower folk-tinged note on Sunday afternoon.

The festival encourages interaction so if all that artistic energy gets you inspired, you can engage in some creativity of your own; The Lady Garden will provide you with all of your DIY and crafting needs at the Resource Centre on Saturday and Sunday.

Tickets

Tickets can be bought per day or for the whole weekend: music passes are £15-£25; ‘rest of the fest’ passes cost between £12.50-£40. All profits from the festival will be donated to Eaves, a charity which provides high-quality housing and support to vulnerable women.

For the full musical line-up and schedule of events, check out the Ladyfest Ten website .

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Iranian contemporary artist Hossein Khosrojerdi. Photo courtesy of the UKIFF

For the very first time in London, Iranian cinema will screen its best productions at the Iranian Film Festival from 19 to 24 November.

A lot of people, including The First Pint, took part at the preview that was held last week at the Roxy Bar in Tower Hill to launch the event. One of the aims of the festival is to gather people together and to give those who are interested the opportunity to get in touch with people working in the industry.

As a member of the Selection Committee, leading Iranian contemporary artist Hossein Khosrojerdi was there to bring the account of his experience of artist and intellectual in the country.

Hossein has now been living in London for the last year and a half taking part of the intellectual life of the city and promoting his country’s culture.

“I was honoured to be chosen as a member of the Selection Committee,” he said “I think Iranian cinema has a lot to say to the rest of the world.”

Thanks to the work of directors like Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Iranian cinema is famous worldwide for its hinting at hidden meanings, conceptual concerns, and its silent and contemplative atmosphere.

“I think Iranian movies at their best have some peculiarities. Not only in the content, but also in the way of displaying images and in the use of light in photography,” Hossein added.

“A work of resistance”

Hossein Khosrojerdi tells us about the resurgence in Iranian culture and film after the revolution. Photo credit: Lillo Montalto

Not only is Iranian cinema clearly a “work of resistance,” as Pejman Danagi, one of the organisers of the Festival, said. After the revolution of 1979, and even more lately after the rise of Ahmadinejad in the tragic circumstances of June 2009 election, the intellectual life in the country significantly changed.

“It’s strange actually,” Hossein says “it seems like arts and culture got a big speed-up. The intellectual community grew bigger and bigger. Most of all, before the revolution there was a unique understanding of Iranian culture and afterwards everything fell apart and artists started to experiment in every direction.”

This is exactly what the festival aims to do: showing to English public the results of those experiments and giving an account of the cultural life in Iran.

“In Iran everything is hard, but I still believe in my culture and I think the 1^st Iranian Film Festival has done a praiseworthy job to promote it,” said Hossein in the end.

The 1^st Iranian Film Festival runs from 19 – 26 November. For more information, visit the Festival website or check out The First Pint’s preview of the event..

There is also a free film screening at the Brunei Gallery at the School of Oriental and Asian Studies (SOAS) on 16 November at 18.30h. Registration is required for the event – for more information, visit the website.

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