Happy Lunar New Year from the USC US-China Institute!
Ai Weiwei: Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads
The Cleveland Museum of Art presents an installation by noted contemporary Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.
Where
The Cleveland Museum of Art will mount an installation by noted contemporary Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, best known for his recent installation at the Tate Turbine Hall in London that featured 100 million handmade porcelain sunflower seeds. The CMA will install Ai Weiwei’s Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads in its newly opened atrium. Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads draws on the history of an 18th-century zodiac fountain clock located in the Yuanming Yuan, or Garden of Perfect Brightness, in the Old Summer Palace in Beijing, which was destroyed during the Second Opium War (1856–60) and looted, including the bronze fountain heads. Ai Weiwei reinterprets the heads in the context of looting and repatriation and as symbols of Chinese national pride, allowing visitors to question the ways history can be made to serve different purposes.
Featured Articles
We note the passing of many prominent individuals who played some role in U.S.-China affairs, whether in politics, economics or in helping people in one place understand the other.
Events
Ying Zhu looks at new developments for Chinese and global streaming services.
David Zweig examines China's talent recruitment efforts, particularly towards those scientists and engineers who left China for further study. U.S. universities, labs and companies have long brought in talent from China. Are such people still welcome?