Ai Weiwei exhibition

Yesterday I went along to this exhibition at the Royal Academy, which continues until 13 December, and came away enjoying it more that I imagined I would.

The problem for me was always going to be that I believe art should need no explanation but should "speak to you" and with this show that was never going to be the case.

Without the audio commentary and the explanation on the walls you would miss much of the meaning of the work. However, there are still some powerful pieces that need no explanation and some humourous touches too.

If after seeing the exhibition you feel you needed to buy a little something to remind you of your visit there are the usual books and card but also some small (approx. 3 inches across) exquisite porcelain chrysanthemums. These are in a limited edition of I think 60 and I suspect that he had them made to his specifications by a fine craftsman but you do get a card along with the flower signed and number by Weiwei. A snip at £14,000 each.

One of the exhibits was the pot below, which does fall into the remit of this Forum.

Although the pot itself is Han Dynasty (206 BC to 220 AD) Weiwei decided that it needed a little touching up in the late 20th century.

I'm not a fan of this guy at all

I enjoyed the exibition more than I thought I would but didn't go for the explanations some of which I found a bit tedious being told something is difficult to make for instance, the historical aspect is important but I felt most of the show just stood on its own, he nicked my Idea of cubic metres but there you go