In Stockholm, Ai Weiwei presents his cage: a work for a world without borders

On the pier outside the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, a large sculpture by Ai Weiwei was unveiled by the artist himself on June 15, 2022. It is Arch, a work that the renowned Chinese dissident artist last showed in 2017 at Washington Square Park in New York. “At that time we were talking about racism and the global refugee crisis,” the artist told The Art Newspaper. “Since then, we have lived through the pandemic, overcome isolation, and witnessed how vulnerable life is. Now, the war between Russia and Ukraine has forced five to six million people to flee their homes.” So the sculpture now takes on a new vision with the war in Ukraine. "In such a context, this work is once again a warning and a reminder," he stressed.

Arch consists of a 40-foot-tall cage-like structure made of polished stainless steel with in the center the silhouette, through which one can pass, of two human figures joined together to represent a world without borders, a hymn to freedom, where all populations are free to move.

The initiative and the funding of the sculpture were made possible thanks to the Brilliant Minds foundation: the latter, established in 2015 by Daniel Ek, founder of Spotify, and Arash Pournouri, organizes an annual event in Stockholm on the themes of sustainability, creativity, inclusiveness, and equality.

Arch is the first in a new series of cultural events that Brilliant Minds will support over the next five years.

Photo by Jean Lapin

In Stockholm, Ai Weiwei presents his cage: a work for a world without borders

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