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Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads: Ai Weiwei: 2010.

Ai reinterpreted the 12 bronze heads representing the traditional Chinese zodiac that once adorned the famed fountain-clock of the Yuanming Yuan, the imperial summer palace retreat in Beijing. Ransacked in 1860 during the Second Opium War by the British and French, only seven of the original heads have been returned to China – the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, horse, monkey, and boar. The locations of the other five – dragon, snake, goat, rooster, and dog – are still unknown. Central to Ai’s reimagined zodiac is the metamorphosis provoked by expulsion, migration, and deliberate change of location undergone by people and objects alike. In 2015, Ai was awarded the Ambassador of Conscience Award by Amnesty International.

Cast in bronze and standing three-metres-high, the sculptures each weigh 363kg. Through the re-interpretation of the heads on a larger scale, Ai comments and encourages debate on the politics of ownership, cultural history, repatriation and authenticity. The artist also wanted the work to be playful and accessible to the general public.
Date
Source Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads
Author Amanda Slater from Coventry, West Midlands, UK
Camera location53° 36′ 42.08″ N, 1° 34′ 26.81″ W Kartographer map based on OpenStreetMap.View this and other nearby images on: OpenStreetMapinfo

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This image was originally posted to Flickr by amandabhslater at https://flickr.com/photos/15181848@N02/49687077127. It was reviewed on 22 April 2020 by FlickreviewR 2 and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-sa-2.0.

22 April 2020

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53°36'42.084"N, 1°34'26.807"W

18 March 2020

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