Château La Coste, in partnership with Luise Faurschou, is pleased to announce an exhibition with internationally renowned Chinese contemporary artist and activist Ai Weiwei to celebrate the artist’s new permanent work on the vineyard.
Over the past two years, Ai Weiwei has been developing a new permanent project for Château La Coste, entitled Ruyi Path after the ceremonial scepter that symbolizes power and good fortune in Chinese history. The organic form of the scepter has provided the plan for a new pathway that weaves between the trees of the forest at Château La Coste and connects two ancient routes on the property. Using cobbles salvaged from the recently renovated ports of Marseille, Ruyi Path has given a new life to these stones that so many have passed over on arrival in Europe. Defying categorization, this structure is both sculpture and architecture; traditional and modern.
To mark the completion of this project, Ai Weiwei is mounting an exhibition at Château La Coste that will provide a broader sense of the artist’s work and contextualize the Ruyi Path within his practice. The works to be exhibited are made using traditional kite-making techniques and employ a wide range of references to Chinese mythology and Ai Weiwei’s own life experiences. Created just before the summer of 2015, when Ai Weiwei’s passport was returned following his detention and subsequent four years of travel restrictions, the works draw from this turbulent period.
Château La Coste, a new hotel overlooking the 600-acre estate in the heart of Provence, France, includes an organic winery and an esteemed art and architecture park. It was purchased in 2002 by Paddy McKillen, owner of several London’s top hotels. Japanese designer Tadao Ando conceived the Art Centre for Château La Coste. Featuring regularly curated art exhibitions and shows, the building adopts many of the Japanese master’s signature elements to create an extraordinary experience of light and space in nature. A vast infinity pool of water hides an underground car park and provides a spectacular stage for an upper level that is laid out on a V-shaped plan.
‘Mountains & Seas’ Ai Weiwei Solo Exhibition
8 April – 17 June 2017
Château La Coste
2750 Route de la Cride
13610 Le Puy Ste Réparade
France