Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang staged a fireworks performance titled *Le Dernier Carnival (The Last Carnival)* outside the Centre Pompidou in Paris on October 22, during Paris Art Week, to mark the museum's five-year closure for renovations. The show, created in collaboration with White Cube gallery, used pyrotechnics, paint, and a custom-built AI model. Activists from Students for a Free Tibet France protested the event, condemning Cai for a previous pyrotechnic stunt in Tibet that sparked environmental concerns and led to the dismissal of four Chinese officials.
The protest matters because it highlights ongoing tensions between artistic expression and environmental and political accountability. Cai's earlier 2024 show in Los Angeles caused injuries from falling debris, and his September 2025 performance in Tibet, sponsored by Arc'teryx, drew sharp criticism for its ecological impact. The activists' response underscores broader debates about the role of artists and corporate sponsors in sensitive geopolitical and ecological contexts, and raises questions about the responsibilities of galleries like White Cube in supporting such work.