Ai Weiwei’s “Iron Root”: Art Rooted in the Struggles of Uprooted Lives・アイウェイウェイの『鉄樹根』：根こそぎにされた人生を映し出す芸術

Ai Weiwei's “Iron Root,” permanently displayed at the Pola Museum of Art in Hakone, Japan, may look like a weathered tree trunk at first glance. But a light tap reveals its true nature: a hollow sculpture made of iron—a clever interplay between nature and art.

This striking piece reflects the theme of being “uprooted,” addressing global issues like the plight of refugees, the destruction of Indigenous lands, and Ai’s own experiences with displacement, including his arrests in China and his journey into exile.

Dive deeper into the story behind this artwork and explore more about Ai Weiwei’s life and inspirations in my latest blog post. Full write-up here (1-minute read): https://www.pix4japan.com/blog/20241015-ironroot

From Ai Weiwei’s extraordinary new memoir – 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows ( the title is from one of his father’s poems – “Of a thousand years of joys and sorrows/Not a trace can be found“) – memories of Allen Ginsberg:

“In late December 1984, at a poetry gathering in St Mark’s Church <https://www.2009-2019.poetryproject.org/about/history/>, a heavily bearded Allen Ginsberg, dressed in a dark suit, read his poetry on the rostrum while a crowd listened keenly below. He was talking about the trip he had just made to China – “I learned that the Great Leap Forward caused millions of people to starve, that the Anti-Rightist Campaign against bourgeois “Stinkers” sent revolutionary poets to shovel shit in Xinjiang Province a decade before the Cultural Revolution drove countless millions of readers to cold huts and starvation in the countryside Northwest“. [ – from “Reading Bai Juyi” – Part V – China Bronchitis”]

Ginsberg was a smoldering charcoal fire, warmly drawing people to him on this winter night. When he finished I went up and told him that I was the son of the revolutionary poet he had just been talking about. His eyes grew big as he listened. Gazing at me intently, he said that his warmest memory in China was the hug that my father had given him. We left the church and went to the Kiev, a Ukrainian diner nearby. When I told him I didn’t drink coffee, he ordered an egg cream  for me instead.”

1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows,  published by Penguin, should be available in all your favorite bookstores.

The Black Cover Book, Ai Weiwei, 1994, MoMA: Drawings and Prints

Gift of the artist Size: page (each): 9 x 7" (22.9 x 17.8 cm); overall (closed): 9 x 7 3/16 x 3/8" (22.9 x 18.2 x 1 cm) Medium: Artist's book

Stool, Ai Weiwei, 2014, Brooklyn Museum: Contemporary Art

Size: 31 1/2 x 20 1/16 x 24 13/16 in. (80 x 51 x 63 cm) Medium: Wood