Man Smashes AI Weiwei Sculpture at Italy Art Show Opening

“Porcelaine Cube” by artist Ai Weiwei is pictured after being destroyed by a man during the opening exhibition, in Bologna, Italy, September 20, 2024. (Genus Bononiae Press Office/Handout via Reuters)
“Porcelaine Cube” by artist Ai Weiwei is pictured after being destroyed by a man during the opening exhibition, in Bologna, Italy, September 20, 2024. (Genus Bononiae Press Office/Handout via Reuters)
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Man Smashes AI Weiwei Sculpture at Italy Art Show Opening

“Porcelaine Cube” by artist Ai Weiwei is pictured after being destroyed by a man during the opening exhibition, in Bologna, Italy, September 20, 2024. (Genus Bononiae Press Office/Handout via Reuters)
“Porcelaine Cube” by artist Ai Weiwei is pictured after being destroyed by a man during the opening exhibition, in Bologna, Italy, September 20, 2024. (Genus Bononiae Press Office/Handout via Reuters)

A man shattered a sculpture by Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei on Friday during the opening of his exhibition at Palazzo Fava in the Italian city of Bologna, a spokesperson for the show said.

Footage from CCTV cameras - posted on Ai Weiwei's Instagram account - showed a man vigorously pushing the sculpture over, breaking it and then holding a piece of it over his head.

The sculpture targeted was the artist's large blue and white "Porcelain Cube", the spokesperson said.

The exhibit's curator, Arturo Galansino, said the perpetrator was well-known in the art world.

"Unfortunately, I know the author of this inconsiderate gesture from a series of disturbing and damaging episodes over the years involving various exhibitions and institutions in Florence," said Galansino.

The police in Bologna told local media a 57-year old Czech man had been arrested after being stopped by the museum's security. The police could not immediately be reached for comment.

The spokesperson said the art show, entitled "Who am I?" had opened on Saturday as normal and that the oeuvre will be replaced by a life-size print of the cube. The exhibition is due to run until May 4.

"Ai Weiwei worried that no one was hurt and then asked that the remains of the work be covered and taken away," he said.

It was not clear how the man had entered the building during the invite-only event on Friday.



Egypt Opens More Galleries in Long-Awaited Antiquities Museum

A King Ramses II statue displayed at the Grand Egyptian Museum during the trial partial operation in Giza, Egypt, 15 October 2024. (EPA)
A King Ramses II statue displayed at the Grand Egyptian Museum during the trial partial operation in Giza, Egypt, 15 October 2024. (EPA)
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Egypt Opens More Galleries in Long-Awaited Antiquities Museum

A King Ramses II statue displayed at the Grand Egyptian Museum during the trial partial operation in Giza, Egypt, 15 October 2024. (EPA)
A King Ramses II statue displayed at the Grand Egyptian Museum during the trial partial operation in Giza, Egypt, 15 October 2024. (EPA)

Egypt opened a series of galleries to the public on Tuesday in its flagship new museum, the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), located near the pyramids of Giza.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly last week announced a "trial opening" ahead of a formal inauguration. Egyptian officials say a number of world leaders have expressed interest in attending the official opening but have not indicated when this will take place.

Pharaonic statues are showcased at the Grand Staircase of the Grand Egyptian Museum during a partial trial in Giza, Egypt, October 15, 2024. (Reuters)

The museum's main entrance hall with its stairway of Pharaonic statues and an annex for commercial shopping opened to the public in February 2023.

Ali Abu Al-Shish, a member of the Egyptian Archaeologists Union who attended Tuesday's opening of almost a dozen galleries, said the trial operation of the vast museum was evidence Egypt now had the space to exhibit its antiquities, including those being returned by Western states and museums.

It's an "important message that we can recover our antiquities, which are spread across various countries in the world," he said.

Visiting Russian tourist Kseniia Muse said: "We are so happy to be here, to have visited these beautiful sculptures... It is very modern and at the same time you can touch the ancient."

Pharaonic statues are displayed at the Grand Staircase of the Grand Egyptian Museum during a partial trial in Giza, Egypt, October 15, 2024. (Reuters)

Tourism is an important source of foreign currency revenue for Egypt. The government has been trying to increase tourist numbers after facing a long-running foreign currency shortage that was exacerbated by external shocks.

Until now, Egypt's most famous collections have been housed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo's Tahrir Square, which has been largely unmodernized and unrenovated since opening in 1902.