In Kiev, the capital ofUkraine still devastated by the Russian invasion, an artwork that focuses reflections on war, peace and contemporary reality will open on Sept. 14, 2025: Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei brings to the Ukrainian capital the work Three Perfectly Proportioned Spheres and Camouflage Uniforms Painted White, a new site-specific installation that will remain on view until Nov. 30 at Pavilion 13, a historic building in the city.
Commissioned by RIBBON International, the project is intended to be an artistic response to the wars that mark our time, a message about art’s ability to interrogate and perhaps save humanity from authoritarian and dehumanizing drifts. Ai Weiwei calls his work not only an aesthetic expression, but more importantly an individual stance in the face of current events. “In this era, being invited to hold an exhibition in Kiev, the capital of a country at war, I hope to express some ideas and reflections through my work,” the artist said. “My works are not simply an aesthetic expression, but also a reflection of my position as an individual facing immense political changes, international hegemonies and conflicts. This exhibition provides a platform to articulate these concerns. In essence, this exhibition is a dialogue about war and peace, rationality and irrationality.”
The work draws on the artist’s long reflection on war and peace, rationality and irrationality, themes that permeate all of his research. Ai Weiwei starts from a formal basis of strong rigor: three perfectly proportioned spheres made of metal and inspired by the cycle Divina Proportione (2004-2012), itself influenced by Leonardo da Vinci’s studies on mathematics and universal harmony. These spheres, for Ai Weiwei, represent ancient ideals of order and rationality typical of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, visions that promoted the transformation of nature for the good of humanity but paradoxically also multiplied the means of destruction. Surrounding these forms is the theme of camouflage, with modified military fabric covered in a white paint that alters perception.
The choice of camouflage fabric-a nod to Ai Weiwei’s multiple investigations into the meaning of this material-weaves nature withmilitary art, a visual language that emulates animal camouflage methods for survival. White paint adds a “second skin” of camouflage, an effect that evokes the phenomenon of ideological erasure, a kind of “whitewashing” that conceals but does not eliminate what lies beneath.
As the artist himself explains, the idea of covering something brings with it the paradox of what remains hidden, questioning the nature of reality and how much is actually perceptible or comprehensible. The work, therefore, invites reflection on the multiple “realities” to be confronted and their visible and invisible layers.
The installation comes to life in Kiev’s Pavilion 13, built in 1967 as an exhibition space dedicated to the economic achievements of the Donbass region. The building itself, with its glass and steel structure, thus takes on a dialogical role with the work, highlighting contrasts and resonances between transparency and concealment. Through this architectural framework, the work aims to bring to light the debate on cultural and political heritage as the city and the country experience a crucial moment in their history. The installation rereads the pavilion’s Soviet past from a contemporary perspective, in a play of cross-references between content and form, between architecture and the current conflict.
The project is realized in collaboration with ФОРМА (FORMA) Architects and Pavilion of Culture, an institution working at the intersection of contemporary art, architecture, and new music.
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| Ai Weiwei brings anti-war and peace work to Kiev |
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