✨ Brussels | Private Exhibition Tour, Wine & Discussion | Ai Weiwei’s First Major Retrospective in Belgium
Join us on 3 October for a private tour of Ai Weiwei’s first major retrospective in Belgium, presented by Patrick Derom Gallery.
Bringing together iconic works from the 1990s alongside more recent installations and sculptures, the exhibition offers an opportunity to explore one of the most influential artistic voices of our time. Across photography, sculpture, LEGO, found objects and monumental installations, Ai Weiwei reflects on power, cultural memory, freedom of expression and the relationship between past and present.
What’s included:
🖼 Private viewing of Ai Weiwei’s retrospective
💬 Conversation around art, politics, memory and freedom
🎨 Encounter with iconic and recent works
🍷 Wine included
About the Exhibition 🖼️
Patrick Derom Gallery brings together works spanning several decades of Ai Weiwei’s practice.
Among the highlights is Study of Perspective, his iconic photographic series from the 1990s, alongside Han Dynasty Urn with Coca-Cola Logo, where an ancient object becomes a sharp commentary on cultural heritage and contemporary consumer culture.
The retrospective also features more recent works, including LEGO compositions such as Illumination and the button based F.U.C.K.. Sculptures including Grapes and Strength, together with monumental installations such as Left Right Studio Material and Snake Ceiling, reveal the breadth of his practice.
Across these very different forms, a consistent thread emerges: an ongoing questioning of systems of power, cultural memory and individual freedom.
A Personal and Intercultural Connection ✨
Alongside the retrospective, a companion exhibition is presented at the Musée Émile Verhaeren, connecting Ai Weiwei’s story to that of his father, the poet Ai Qing.
Ai Qing was the first to translate Émile Verhaeren’s poetry into Chinese, introducing the Belgian poet’s work to Chinese audiences. This encounter became an important influence on his intellectual and artistic development.
The connection creates a fascinating dialogue between poetry, memory, family and cultural exchange, adding a more personal dimension to the retrospective.
My take on the exhibition, by Art Gallivant :
What makes Ai Weiwei’s work so compelling is the way he moves between the personal and the political. Familiar objects, historical references and everyday materials become ways of questioning the systems and narratives that surround us.
There is often a tension between beauty and critique, tradition and disruption, memory and reinvention. Seeing works from different periods together makes that continuity particularly visible.
The exhibition becomes not only a retrospective of an artist’s career, but an invitation to think about what we inherit, what we challenge, and what we choose to remember.
📍 Event Details
3 October
Patrick Derom Gallery, Brussels
Private exhibition tour
✨ Limited spots. Intimate group. Shared reflection.
Join us for an afternoon of art, conversation and a closer encounter with Ai Weiwei’s powerful dialogue between culture, politics and personal history.