You would have seen something spectacular if you had been around Gendarmenmarkt in early 2016. World-renowned Chinese artist Ai Weiwei turned the columns of Konzerthaus Berlin into something different.
Thousands of orange life vests covered the columns, turning them into pillars for the refugees that are arriving every day on the Greek island of Lesbos. The installation is a part of Cinema for Peace, a fundraiser gala on February 15, 2016.
This art piece aims to draw attention to the ongoing humanitarian crisis. To bring something real to the people at the fundraiser, Ai Weiwei collected and brought over 10,000 orange vests to Berlin, carefully attached to the columns at Gendarmenmarkt.
#safepassage with Ai Weiwei
Over the last month, Ai Weiwei has been working from the Greek island of Lesbos. This island is where thousands of refugees land after escaping conflict. For most of them, the island is a sigh of relief, but we believe the artist sees this differently.
He has been registering what he sees there and posting videos and pictures on his Instagram account. This way, he offers a precedent account of the daily struggle and conditions of the community that is arriving on the island.
When I visited the square two days after the fundraiser, I could still see the orange vests covering the pillars of the Konzerthaus. While I took the pictures that you can see here, I kept imagining that every single one of the orange vests in front of me reflects the life of a man, woman, or child that landed in Lesbos trying to escape death.
Every day, you read about the refugees coming to Europe, looking for a safer place. But it is not easy to picture how many of them are arriving here and the sacrifices they must make to reach safety.
It’s too bad this Ai Weiwei artwork only lasted a few days at Gendarmenmarkt in 2016. Today, the columns have returned to their original designs, and only the pictures and the artist’s message will remain.
