Visitors to Berlin’s Gendarmenmarkt had the chance to witness quite a spectacular event this past weekend. World-renowned Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, who recently set up his base in Berlin, transformed the columns of the Konzerthaus into pillars for refugee attention by covering them with thousands of orange life vests that had been stranded on the beach of the island Lesbos. The installation is part of the film gala “Cinema for Peace” that is happening today (February 15, 2016) and will be on site until the Tuesday after. It’s a rare opportunity to see a sight-specific artwork by Ai Weiwei in Berlin, so you should definitely go see it live if you can.
With the installation, the activist and artist wants to draw attention to the horrible suffering that refugees have to go through when escaping from the devastating situations in their home countries. It’s impressive and deeply moving – a bitter but necessary reminder of what is still going on every day not so far from the safety of our own homes.
