Zodiac

Ai Weiwei reflects on his life and work through the traditional Chinese art of papercutting in this limited-edition portfolio of eight papercuts. Meticulously cut in large-format, coloured fine-art paper, Ai Weiwei favoured the colour red as it is associated with festivities and happiness in the Chinese culture. Each of the eight pieces represents a decisive moment within the artist's oeuvre—from his time in New York in the '80s, his exploration of Chinese crafts in Beijing in the '90s, to the political activism of his recent work—offering a beautiful, personal retrospective in a unique format.

The 'Zodiac' papercut refers to Ai Weiwei's renowned sculpture 'Circle of Animals Zodiac Heads', 2010. The series recreated the twelve traditional Chinese zodiac sculptures that once adorned the Yuanming Yuan fountain clock, an artistic and architectural centerpiece of the imperial gardens outside of Beijing enjoyed by several Qing dynasty rulers in the 18th and 19th centuries.