Ai Weiwei: Resetting Memories

Ai Weiwei’s dissection of two national traumas in Mexico and China

For his exhibition at Mexico City’s MUAC, Ai Weiwei (born 1957) addressed two national traumas: the destruction of cultural heritage during China’s Communist Revolution and the murder of 43 students in Mexico. These are represented respectively by a Ming dynasty temple that the artist purchased and rebuilt, and a film and Lego portraits of the Mexican students.