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42 works by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei touch upon Hallstatt culture in Bad Ischl. A dialogue emerges between colours, shapes and different cultures. The exhibition “Beyond Borders”, a joint project of OÖ Landes-Kultur GmbH for the European Capital of Culture 2024 Bad Ischl – Salzkammergut, opened on Wednesday evening in Marmorschlössl with the artist present.
The show, which runs until October 27, is curated by state cultural directors Alfred Weidinger and Lucas Cuturi. Weidinger explained at a press conference that the institution had long been hesitant about making a contribution to the Capital of Culture. The topic became clear to him when he noticed that Hallstatt culture was not included in the programming. But the objects are not to be presented as historical relics, but should “be a source of inspiration for contemporary art”. This was the idea to involve Ai Weiwei in the project, from which, Weidinger continued, “he himself draws inspiration, as a collector of Chinese antiquities”.
A large, colorful dragon greets you in the stables. Each of its 30 members represents a country that restricts human rights, Cuturi explains. The installation was created in 2014. In the opposite hall, 175 white helmets are arranged on the floor. They correspond to Wehrmacht helmets from World War II. Vivi fired them from white ceramic from Gmunden, so they are a reminder of the Salzkammergut’s Nazi past, but also represent Russia’s war against Ukraine.
In the Imperial Gardens, the marble castle meets a Qing dynasty wooden mansion on a crystal pedestal purchased and painted by Weiwei. His twelve monumental “Zodiac Heads”—modeled after those destroyed in front of Beijing’s Old Summer Palace during the First Opium War—are placed around a fountain in front of the Imperial Villa.
In the main exhibition at Marmorschlössl, exhibits featuring Weiwei’s work correspond to bronze jewelry from the Hallstatt culture from 650 BC. From the collection of the Upper Austrian State Museum. Lego pictures, the bicycle installation “Forever Bicycle” or a Han Dynasty vase with the Coca-Cola logo stand in front of wallpaper designed by Weiwei. Wherever you look, cultures from the East and the West, from yesterday to today, are constantly merging in this show. This juxtaposition expresses their cross-border connections.
(Service – “Beyond Borders – A Dialogue with Hallstatt Culture”, by Ai Weiwei, Marmorschlössl and Kaiserpark Bad Ischl, until October 27, information at www.ooekultur.at）
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