The Chinese artist Ai Weiwei plans to create a major installation at a festival in Germany this summer consisting of 1,000 tents set up along the Emscher River, the BBC reported.
The artist, a dissident whose travel has been restricted by the Chinese government, will oversee the project from his studio in Beijing. An outspoken critic of China’s authoritarian government, Mr. Ai was jailed for 81 days in 2011 without being charged and the government has since denied him a passport.
The installation will be part of the Emscherkunst triennial arts festival in the Ruhr region, running from June 22 to Oct. 6. Mr. Ai plans to give each tent unusual features, and two or three people will be invited to stay in them for a low, symbolic price. “The idea is to let normal people participate†in the work, the curator, Florian Matzner said.
Mr. Ai also announced recently that he is making a foray into music, recording a heavy metal album. He said he became interested in composing new rock music while in jail, after his guards asked him to sing and he realized he knew only Chinese revolutionary songs.
