In the Everything at Once exhibition, some artworks by Ai Weiwei had been exhibited. The works include two sculptures of wooden trunks and wallpaper addressing the issues of European refugee crisis. The wallpaper I found to be very intriguing, from distance it can become quite hard to understand that it may be a conceptualised piece as its distanced appearance seems much like an intricate design.

 

The wallpaper itself actual maintains a lot of detail, separated by row designs, it depicts a variety of prints referencing the European refugee crisis. The paper highlights ruined buildings, war zones , fences and quotes including “open the border,” “safe passage,” and “no one is illegal”. The wallpaper is used as a visual reflection to depict the traumas experienced by refugees through its illustrations of countries and camps which have been war torn, their experience of having crossed oceans and seas in unsafe boats. The wallpaper clearly also shows the  experience of arrival where the refugees are kept in camps, small tents and closed in by barbed wires.

I feel like this piece is very effects in terms of its visual depictions. It addresses current issues that have often been turned a blind eye to. For instance, Italy have been receiving vast amounts of refugees arriving for over a decade, however many countries have not been aware of issues as such until the recent years.

Political art as such can be very effective in terms of communicating social and political issues to individuals who may be oblivious or less involved within the situation. With political events such as Brexit affecting people’s views of refugees and migrants.