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September 25, 2026 \u2014 10:40am<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Five hundred cast-iron combat helmets have been arrayed on the lawn of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia on Sydney\u2019s harbour front by one of the world\u2019s most influential artist-activists in an installation that functions as a sculpture and an urgent call for peace.<\/p>\n The sun rose on Friday on Ai Weiwei\u2019s monumental, 40-metre work, titled Mushrooms, after the fence came down overnight on the public outdoor sculpture which aims to transform symbols of military protection into a collective declaration of peace and human resilience in a world the artist says is \u201cfilled with crises\u201d.<\/p>\n The installation at Circular Quay is the second major public outdoor commission funded by a $3 million philanthropic gift from The Balnaves Foundation honouring the late Neil Balnaves, the television executive and philanthropist, which has since given a $32.5 million to arts organisations.<\/p>\n The first commission in the series was British artist\u2019s Thomas J Price\u2019s three-metre-tall golden bust<\/a> of an \u201cevery woman\u201d installed last year.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the era we live in, the 21st century, wars have not ceased,\u201d says Ai, whose sculptures, photographs and public installations have long explored themes of political oppression, freedom of expression, and human rights abuses. \u201cWe continue to exist in a time where war and peace interchangeably assume each other\u2019s roles, shaping the identity of our age. I hope this work prompts people to reflect on war and peace.\u201d<\/p>\n Helmets are a recurring motif in Ai\u2019s practice, first appearing in a series that replicated construction hard hats in fragile materials like marble and glass to honour miners lost in industrial disasters and workers who attempted to save victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. In 2023, he created 90 porcelain helmets invoking World War II designs to reflect on the lives of soldiers and civilians caught in conflict.<\/p>\n The Sydney commission builds directly upon these themes, using 500 cast-iron sculptures and arranged in 10 uniform rows on an elevated metal and mesh platform bisected by a central walkway to allow the public to walk its aisles.<\/p>\n Each helmet weighs five kilograms and was produced in a Chinese foundry from a single mould, meticulously reproducing the original design\u2019s interior cushioning.<\/p>\n The concept originated in response to the German government\u2019s 2022 decision to donate 5000 helmets to Ukraine, a gesture widely mocked at the time as symbolic and inadequate for the realities of modern warfare.<\/p>\n The title Mushrooms operates on multiple levels, drawing on the biological ability of fungi to turn decay into new life, the ominous form of nuclear mushroom clouds, and a Chinese idiom suggesting endless bureaucratic delays. The project links to Ai\u2019s decades-long focus on displacement and conflict, extending a legacy established by installations like the Tate Modern\u2019s 2010 Turbine Hall commission of Sunflower Seeds.<\/p>\n In Australia, he is best remembered for his appearance at the 21st Biennale of Sydney in 2018 where Ai unveiled Law of the Journey<\/a>, a massive black rubber lifeboat filled with figures of refugee, a commentary on the humanitarian disaster following the Syrian civil war and the global odyssey of displaced people. The artist also staged a silent vigil outside Julian Assange\u2019s 2020 extradition hearing.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThis artwork can once again remind us that the world we inhabit is not a world free of worry. It is a world filled with crises,\u201d he said via a video statement.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cAt the same time, these crises generate political helplessness, and it is often this sense of helplessness that manifests itself in forms of criticality and humour. Together, they constitute an important dimension of our contemporary cultural reality.\u201d<\/p>\n Hamish Balnaves said his father believed that art should be for the people, start conversations and show different perspectives.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is both timely and timeless and can talk to any time,\u201d he said. \u201cThe inspiration for the work was about Germany\u2019s gift of 5000 helmets to ukraine before the conflict happened, but it\u2019s not a work about Ukraine specifically its about war and peace generally.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you look it is rows of helmets, and it does have a reflective element, and it does remind me of rows of crosses. It creates a human element towards something forgotten in modern warfare, and a lot of warfare from the air, that it does come down to individual lives.\u201d<\/p>\n The non-acquisitive public sculptural commission series was partly inspired by New York\u2019s The High Line, the park built on a freight train line, according to MCA director Suzanne Cotter.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve already invited a third sculptural commission, and they\u2019re working on it, which will be completely different again,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s about telling a story about contemporary art and how artists work with the medium of sculpture.\u201d<\/p>\n Alongside the installation, MCA Australia has launched Say Your Peace, a public program inviting visitors to record video messages to the artist.<\/p>\n Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Ai](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/3bab03fb1a283097b9ac9b39639d83e3bc6b7902.jpeg\")
Ai Weiwei\u2019s monumental, 40-metre work, titled Mushrooms, on Tallawoladah Lawn overlooking Sydney Harbour. Jessica Hromas<\/p>\n![\"Ai](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/c2100fa9fa3e9e5fe9e8322748abff6f6d446adc.jpeg\")
Ai Weiwei\u2019s new monumental work on Sydney Harbour, Mushrooms.Jessica Hromas<\/p>\n![\"Ai](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/24ac87fe9f7f6812fd724daa10cf0efd000bf22a.jpeg\")
Ai Weiwei\u2019s Law of Journey at Cockatoo IslandNick Moir<\/p>\n![\"Tony](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/5722e217caa179f781aca3203b28cc7d6a0b07b3.jpeg\")
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