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Ai Weiwei is among the most rigorous, challenging, and outspoken artists in the world today. This fall, the renowned Chinese dissident will discuss his wide-ranging practice as part of a public Q&A at Washington University in St. Louis.
The talk, which will take place September 26, is presented as part of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts’ fall public lecture series. In all, the series will feature eight presentations by internationally renowned artists, architects, art historians, and designers.
Events begin September 19 with Swiss architect Patrick Gmür, founding partner of Gmür & Geschwentner and a former director of urban planning for the City of Zurich, who is serving as the Sam Fox School’s Ruth and Norman Moore Visiting Professor this fall. The winner of numerous architectural competitions, Gmür is internationally renowned for his housing developments and school buildings. Major projects in Zurich include the James and Paul Clairmont housing development, the Hard Turm Park high rise, and Scherr schoolhouse renovation and extension.
Sabine Eckmann, the William T. Kemper Director and chief curator of Washington University’s Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, will host the Sept. 26 Q&A with Ai. Co-sponsored by the Assembly Series, the event will explore the artist’s ongoing engagement with human rights issues and with Chinese culture past and present. It comes in conjunction with the exhibition Ai Weiwei: Bare Life, a major survey debuting at the newly expanded Kemper Art Museum September 28.
The series will continue October 23 with art historian John Jay Curley, followed on October 24 by Yvonne Farrell, founder of Dublin-based Grafton Architects. The “Decoys & Depictions“ symposium, which explores the role of digital images in contemporary art and architecture, will feature keynote lectures by Nader Tehrani, dean of the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at the Cooper Union (October 25), and Brett Steele, dean of the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture (October 26).
Native American artist Duane Slick will present the Arthur L. and Sheila Prensky Island Press Visiting Lecture November 4. Rounding out the series will be Dave Hullfish Bailey, who will present the Henry L. And Natalie E. Freund Teaching Fellow Lecture November 17 at the Saint Louis Art Museum, in conjunction with his fall Currents exhibition.
All events are free and open to the public, though tickets are required for the Q&A with Ai. For more information, including times and locations, visit samfoxschool.wustl.edu/pls.
Public lecture series
September 19
Patrick Gmür
Founding partner, Gmür & Geschwentner Architekten
Ruth & Norman Moore Visiting Professor Lecture
September 26
Ai Weiwei
Artist and social activist
Bunny & Charles Burson Visiting Artist Lecture: Q&A with Sabine Eckmann
October 23
John Jay Curley
Associate professor, modern and contemporary art, Wake Forest University
October 24
Yvonne Farrell
Founding director, Grafton Architects
Ruth Kahn Lynford Lecture
October 25
Nader Tehrani
Dean, Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture, Cooper Union; principal, NADAAA
AIA St. Louis Scholarship Fund Lecture
Keynote address, Decoys & Depictions: Images of the Digital Symposium
October 26
Brett Steele
Dean, UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture
Abend Family Lecture
Keynote address, Decoys & Depictions: Images of the Digital Symposium
November 4
Duane Slick
Professor of painting, Rhode Island School of Design
Arthur L. and Sheila Prensky Island Press Visiting Artist Lecture
November 17
Dave Hullfish Bailey
Artist
Henry L. And Natalie E. Freund Teaching Fellow Lecture
