The Chinese artist Ai Weiwei published on Instagram a preview of his piece dedicated to Mexico that will be part his exhibition “Restablecer memorias” (Restoring Memories) , which will be presented at Mexico City’s University Museum of Contemporary Art (MUAC) on April 13.
The exhibition, which will be held in the framework of the museum’s 10th anniversary , will explore the social traumas and experiences shared by China and Mexico and remind audiences of their responsibility in building a social memory.
In 2016 , Ai Weiwei visited Mexico to start a new project surrounding social trauma and the loss of a future.
Through a documentary and a series of portraits made out of Lego blocks , the artist explores the personal and social consequences of the disappearance of 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College between 26 and 27 September, 2014.
Some of the images the artist has shared on social media include the portraits of the missing students and videos that tell of the creation of the piece with the help of young people in Mexico.
This 400-year-old ruin represents a complex negotiation between the new and the old. It is the centerpiece of a particular period in the artist’s life following his arrest in 2011, before he was forced to go into exile in Europe.
Ai Weiwei also published some previews of the montage and videos showing the construction of the temple, which will be available for public view as of next week and until October 2019.
On April 12, Ai Weiwei will give a talk in company of María Luisa Aguilar and Cuauhtémoc Medina .
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