Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei will open his first solo exhibition in India this week at Nature Morte gallery in New Delhi, running from 15 January to 22 February. The untitled show spans four decades of his career, featuring large-scale Lego works based on famous artworks (including versions of Hokusai's 'Surfing' and Monet's 'Water Lilies'), new Lego pieces inspired by Indian Pichwai paintings and homages to modernist painters V.S. Gaitonde and S.H. Raza, plus installations such as 'Whitewashed Remnants of History of the State of Emerging Future Works' and 'F.U.C.K.' (2024). All works are for sale, with several pre-sold; the exhibition is a collaboration between Nature Morte and Galleria Continua.
The exhibition matters because it brings Ai Weiwei's politically charged practice to India at a moment when the country faces rising censorship under its far-right government, as documented by the Free Speech Collective. Nature Morte co-director Aparajita Jain emphasizes the urgency of Ai's work addressing history, power, borders, and memory in a context where these issues are lived realities. The show also marks a significant cultural exchange, introducing Ai's decades-long critique of authority to an Indian audience while incorporating local artistic traditions and modernist references.