Sensitivity and joy

We made a special trip to see this year's Serpentine Pavilion in Kensington Park.  This is the 12th annual pavilion installation and was designed by Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei and the Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron (who previously collaborated on the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing.)

Nicole is an admirer of Ai Weiwei's work, as well as his political courage.  In addition to his daring  and experimental artwork, Ai Weiwei has been one of the Chinese government's most vocal critics.  Notwithstanding his national prominence for designing the Olympic stadium in 2008, Ai Weiwei was arrested in 2011 and detained for 81 days without charges.  While he was released, he has not been able to leave the country and so his work on the Serpentine Pavilion has been through Skype discussions with Herzog & de Meuron.  The result is remarkably moving and intimate:

The pavilion actually descends underground into a cork seating interior that is designed as an homage to the 11 previous pavilions that have stood here.  It is covered with a floating platform room that holds rain water and reflects the sky above.  While the setting itself is natural and calming, on the day we were there it comfortably held a dozen or so people in lively chatter.

Ai Weiwei wrote a very moving opinion piece when he discovered that he would not be permitted to attend the opening of his pavilion:

"At the same time you have to maintain a passion for what you are doing.  You have to have sensitivity and joy.  If you don't have that, you will be like a fish on the beach, drying up on the sand."

We enjoyed Ai Weiwei's pavilion and hope he'll get a chance to do so soon.