A blue-and-white sculpture titled ‘Porcelain Cube’ was purposely destroyed at the Chinese artist’s new survey in Italy.
A notorious vandal destroyed a sculpture by contemporary Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei during an exhibition opening in Bologna, Italy. CCTV footage posted on the artist’s Instagram account documented a man pushing the sculpture over, smashing it, and then wielding a broken piece above his head.
The act of vandalism occurred during the private opening of the new Ai Weiwei solo exhibition Who Am I? on Friday, September 21. Local police tackled and arrested Vaclav Pisvejc, a 57-year-old Czech man and self-proclaimed artist known for targeting significant works of art. It is unknown how Pisvejc gained access to the invitation-only event, of which Ai Weiwei was in attendance.
The museum confirmed that Who Am I? has since opened to the public according to plan. Per the artist’s request, the broken fragments of the vandalized sculpture were covered with a cloth and removed from the Palazzo Fava. Porcelain Cube will be replaced by a photograph of the sculpture alongside a label that explains what happened to it.
“The act of vandalism against Ai Weiwei’s work Porcelain Cube is even more shocking when we consider that several of the works on display explore the theme of destruction itself,” exhibition curator Arturo Galansino told Hyperallergic. Interestingly, Who Am I? features an installationtitled Left Right Studio Material (2018).