Recently, at an exhibition opening ceremony in Italy, Chinese artist and political dissident Ai Weiwei’s ceramic works were smashed by a Czech man and the man was subsequently arrested.
According to Reuters, on Friday, September 20th, the exhibition took place at the Palazzo Fava in Bologna, Italy. During the opening ceremony, a man smashed Ai Weiwei’s ceramic sculpture.
A spokesperson for Ai Weiwei’s exhibition said that the man in question smashed the large blue and white sculpture “Porcelain Cube” during the opening ceremony.
A video posted on Ai Weiwei’s Instagram account from a surveillance camera showed a man forcefully pushing over the sculpture, shattering it, and then raising a piece of the sculpture over his head.
Reports indicated that the exhibition curator Arturo Galansino stated that the perpetrator is also well-known in the art world. “Unfortunately, from a series of disturbing and destructive events that have occurred over the years in various exhibitions and institutions in Florence, I learned that this person is a key figure in undermining creativity and protest actions.”
Bologna police reported that a 57-year-old Czech man was arrested after museum security stopped him.
The exhibition spokesperson said, “Ai Weiwei is worried if anyone was hurt and requested the remaining pieces of the ceramic sculpture to be covered and taken away.”
The spokesperson mentioned that the theme of the art exhibition is “Who am I?” and the exhibition proceeded as normal on Saturday, the 21st. The smashed exhibit will be replaced with life-size cube prints.