Wars in Iran and Gaza may have distracted some of the attention from the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine, but that conflict rages on, with Russia sending deadly drones into the country and U.S. president Donald Trump criticizing the Group of 7 nations, recently convened in Canada, for expelling Russia after the country annexed Crimea in 2014.
Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei certainly hasn’t forgotten, and this fall he will debut a major new installation at a Soviet-era, glass house-style exposition hall in the Ukrainian capital, newly reopened as a cultural venue.
“In this era, being invited to hold an exhibition in Kyiv, the capital of a country at war, I hope to express certain ideas and reflections through my work,” said the artist in press materials. “My artworks are not merely an aesthetic expression but also a reflection of my position as an individual navigating immense political shifts, international hegemonies, and conflicts. This exhibition provides a platform to articulate these concerns. At its core, this exhibition is a dialogue about war and peace, rationality and irrationality.”
Courtesy Ai Weiwei studio.
A metal structure at the heart of the new piece, titled Three Perfectly Proportioned Spheres and Camouflage Uniforms Painted White (2025), is made up of spherical forms taken from an earlier Ai work, Divina Proportione (2004–12), itself inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s illustrations for an eponymous book on mathematics. That piece consisted of five-foot-wide orbs made of wood. The spheres, emblematic of ancient ideals of order and rationality, will be encased in fabric with a camouflage pattern, a system of concealment based in animals’ ability to hide themselves, which Ai has explored in his work for years. The camouflage will, in this case, be thinly covered in white paint, which he thinks of as another layer of camouflage.
“Of course, whenever you cover something there’s still something underneath,” said Ai. “So I give extra meaning to how we’re dealing with reality and which layer of reality we’re dealing with. And is reality just what we are seeing or what we understand?”
The piece was commissioned by Ukrainian nonprofit Ribbon International, which supports arts in Ukraine through exhibitions, commissions, public programs, and grants.
Pavilion 13, Kyiv, in June 2025 following renovation works by Forma architectural office, commissioned by Ribbon International. Photo: Vitalii Halanzha.
The new work will be unveiled at Pavilion 13, a multidisciplinary art space in Kyiv, housed in a glass exposition hall from 1967 that reopened this month following a renovation led by Forma, an architectural office in the Ukrainian capital, run by Iryna Miroshnykova and Oleksii Petrov. The renovation was also commissioned by Ribbon; Ai’s project is realized in cooperation with Forma.
“Art is something related to humans’ most primitive reactions or emotions, fear or even fantasies or dreams,” said the artist. “Those are always deeply rooted, and it’s more profound than we can ever even understand. I think art is the only way to save humanity from authoritarian and other forms of technical bureaucracy and technical authoritarian push.”
The opening program at Pavilion 13 currently features a site-responsive intervention by Berlin-based artist Sam Lewitt titled Shubin and featuring a film, a neon sign on the building’s facade, and sculptural reconstructions of the pavilion’s original display furniture.
Three Perfectly Proportioned Spheres and Camouflage Uniforms Painted White will be on view at Pavilion 13, 1 Akademika Glushkova Avenue, Kyiv, Ukraine, September 14–November 30, 2025.
Source: Exhibition - news.artnet.com
