Image: Ai Weiwei, Mutuophagia (2018)

Museum: 23 July 2021 – 5 February 2022

Park: 23 July 2021 – 9 July 2022

Ai Weiwei (Beijing, 1957) is an artist, a thinker and an activist, whose artistic practice addresses pressing issues of our time. He is one of the leading cultural figures of his generation and an example for free expression both in China and internationally. At Serralves Ai Weiwei presents a body of work that reflects his interest in the environment and his concerns regarding the deforestation of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Ai’s sculptures represent what remains of once green giants and are referents for the present consequences of the rapacious conversion of the natural environment. As we contemplate these roots, we understand the value of forests, the lungs of the world that provide the oxygen we need to breathe. To preserve these rapidly dwindling resources is a critical issue for the future of people on Earth. In the Serralves Park we will see for the first time Pequi Tree, a 32-meter-high iron tree that stands witness to the disappearance of the harmonious co-existence between human beings and nature; moulded in Brazil, cast in China, and now installed in the Park, this work went from wood to metal and from mortal to eternal as a piece of evidence and a monument. Conceived for the Serralves Park and the central room of the Museum “Ai Weiwei: Intertwine” is curated by Philippe Vergne and Paula Fernandes with the support of the artist’s studio, Lisson Gallery and neugerriemschneider, Berlin