
LongHouse Reserve: Ai Weiwei in Conversation — Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads

LongHouse Reserve will host a conversation on Ai Weiwei’s Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads, a monumental sculptural work installed in the gardens. The talk will explore the artistic, cultural, and historical significance of the twelve bronze animal heads, which reinterpret a famed eighteenth-century Chinese fountain-clock. The discussion will situate the work within both its art historical lineage and the broader context of LongHouse’s mission to bring art and nature into dialogue.
Ai Weiwei is an internationally recognized artist whose practice spans sculpture, architecture, film, and social engagement. He will be joined in conversation by Alexandra Munroe, senior curator at large of global arts at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Together they will reflect on the enduring resonance of the Zodiac Heads and the ways art can address questions of heritage, power, and cultural memory.