F Grass is the continuation of Ai Weiwei’s large-scale installation “Sunflower Seeds” made for Tate Modern in 2010.
Date/Time: Jul 16 2016, 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Vancouver, Harbour Green ParkCost: Free
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While this event is free and open to the public, it is helpful for us to know if you are coming so we know how much chai to bring! Please RSVP!
Many Vancouverites do not know that thanks to the Vancouver Biennale, our city hosts a public art piece by Ai Weiwei. Ai Weiwei is one of the most influential artist/activists of our time. Using ordinary grass as a metaphor, he creates a blockade of cast-iron spikes. From above, the individual blades collectively take the shape of an elegant calligraphic “F”. Each blade is symbolic of countless ordinary individuals who collectively become a resilient, powerful force. In China, the character for “grass” is pronounced the same as the F-word obscenity.
Grass is small and fragile, humble and flexible, yet it is strong and persistent, even rises faster for being stepped on. The courage shown by ordinary individuals in everyday acts of rebellion collectively become a force to be reckoned with.
For this special public event, two artists from the Indian Summer Festival – novelist/activists Karim Alrawi and Monia Mazigh respond to Ai Weiwei’s work, and take the opportunity to talk about the Syrian refugee crisis, an issue that Ai Weiwei has been focusing on of late. Alrawi will read from his address ‘A Way to Truth’ that he previously delivered to introduce Ai Weiwei at Art Basel. Stay on for tea and a chance to interact with Karim Alrawi and Monia Mazigh.
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