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Ai Weiwei. The Silk Scarf ‘Haircut’

300Availability: In Stock
Papercutting is a traditional Chinese art going back 2,000 years. The colored, intricately cut papers are used as a story-telling medium in festivities, for prayers, and as everyday decoration. The blue scarf takes its motif from a papercut created by Ai Weiwei as part of his Papercut Portfolio, published by TASCHEN in 2019: Haircut, reflecting on his participation in documenta XII in Kassel 2007, when he made it possible for 1,001 Chinese compatriots to travel to the German city.

Limited edition of 2,500 copies
Edition of 2,500Blue and white scarf, 100% silk, 90 x 90 cm, handwoven and hand-silkscreened, finished with hand-rolled edges; wrapped in tissue paper and packaged in cardboard box, 26 x 26 cm
“Can’t wrap your head around the Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei? Wrap it in his twill silk scarf instead.”
theartnewspaper.com
Ai Weiwei. The Silk Scarf ‘Haircut’

Ai Weiwei. The Silk Scarf ‘Haircut’

300

Limited Edition Scarf by Ai Weiwei

The Silk Scarf ‘Haircut’

Coupling impeccable crafting and beautiful storytelling, Ai Weiwei’s scarves are wearable works of art that look as well luxuriously draped over your outfit as hanging in a frame. Ai’s design for this blue scarf is based on his papercut Haircut, reflecting on his participation in documenta XII in Kassel 2007, when he made it possible for 1,001 Chinese compatriots to travel to the German city, many of them leaving their home country for the first time. Published by TASCHEN in 2019 as part of his signed and limited Papercut Portfolio, the medium speaks to Ai’s use of traditional craftsmanship in his art, which is twofold here: as the craft of the Chinese papercut goes back 2000 years, silk weaving was invented even 5000 years ago, remaining a purely Chinese craft for many millennia. This TASCHEN exclusive by Ai Weiwei is made of high-quality Chinese twill silk, a material renowned for its particularly fine texture, woven and screen-printed by hand, and finished with hand-rolled edges.

About the motif: Ai reflects on his work for the 2007 documenta in Kassel, where he afforded a journey to the German city to 1,001 Chinese compatriots who had never left their country before. Selecting people from every walk of life, Ai designed their clothes, suitcases, and—as depicted in this papercut—also cut their hair. The participants were free to do as they wished as long as they did not leave the city, acting both as spectators and part of an artwork. Also featured is the monumental outdoors installation Template, constructed from Ming and Qing Dynasty wooden doors and windows salvaged from old demolished buildings. After only a few days, the work collapsed in a thunderstorm. “It was not prepared for the German weather and wind,” Ai commented. “When I saw how the site had collapsed—not totally, it turned into some other shape—I thought it is now really like a ruin. It comes from ruins and now it’s really a ruin.”

Limited edition of 2,500 copies
The artist

Born in Beijing in 1957, Ai Weiwei is renowned for making strong aesthetic statements that resonate across today’s geopolitical world. From architecture to sculpture and installations, social media to documentaries, he uses a wide range of media for new ways of artistically examining society and its values. He is the recipient of the 2015 Ambassador of Conscience Award from Amnesty International and the 2012 Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent from the Human Rights Foundation. Ai’s first feature-length documentary Human Flow premiered at the 74th Venice Film Festival in competition. He currently lives and works in Cambridge, Berlin, and Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal.

Ai Weiwei. The Silk Scarf ‘Haircut’
Edition of 2,500Blue and white scarf, 100% silk, 90 x 90 cm, handwoven and hand-silkscreened, finished with hand-rolled edges; wrapped in tissue paper and packaged in cardboard box, 26 x 26 cm

ISBN 978-3-8365-7996-4

The picture frame seen here is for display purposes only; the scarf is sold unframed.
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5

/5

3 Ratings

Great product !

Jean-Baptiste,October 27, 2021
Wonderful product from Taschen ! Nice package and great quality as always

Beautiful!

Paris,October 27, 2021
Fast shipping, smooth transaction.

Sehr besonders

Martin,November 2, 2021
Ein tolles Kunstwerk, das wieder einmal eindrucksvoll die Vielfalt in Ausdruck, politischer Haltung und gewähltem Material bei Ai Weiwei zeigt. Sehr geschmackvoll gestaltet - ein perfektes Geschenk!

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