Ai Weiwei makes art face masks for charity, says: ‘A society that wears masks because of the choices of individuals can defy any force’
- Saying Covid-19 pandemic requires individuals to act, activist Chinese artist uses his Berlin studio to make face masks printed with designs from his artworks
- Instead of art, some feature a CCTV camera or a pair of handcuffs, and one especially provocative mask will be sold separately as an artwork
Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei has partnered with Guggenheim Museum curator Alexandra Munroe to launch a series of face masks printed with some of his artworks.
The latter, Mask with Middle Finger, will be sold separately as an artwork.
The masks were produced at Ai’s studio in the German capital, Berlin, where he lived for four years before moving to the UK in 2019.
The masks are available in sets of four or 20, and bids for packs of them are being invited on e-commerce website eBay. Proceeds from the sale of the 10,000 face coverings will go to Human Rights Watch, Refugees International and Médecins Sans Frontières. Ai hopes their sale will raise at least US$1 million.
Ai has been living in exile in Europe since 2015, when he was allowed to leave China, and is now based in Cambridge, in eastern England, with his family.
In a lengthy Instagram post, Ai said: “The Covid-19 pandemic is a humanitarian crisis. It challenges our understanding of the 21st century and warns of dangers ahead. It requires each individual to act, both alone and collectively.
“An individual wearing a mask makes a gesture; a society wearing masks combats a deadly virus. And a society that wears masks because of the choices of individuals, rather than because of the directive of authorities, can defy and withstand any force. No will is too small and no act too helpless.”
