Ai Weiwei global exhibition at Melbourne’s Royal Botanical Gardens
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15.09.2021

Ai Weiwei global exhibition at Melbourne’s Royal Botanical Gardens

royal botanical gardens
Words by Lucas Radbourne

Melbourne's Royal Botanical Gardens will host a global arts exhibition this month, coming to only 12 gardens across the world.

If you’re within the five kilometre radius of the Royal Melbourne Botanical Gardens, you’re in luck as an augmented-reality exhibition – featuring work by 13 artists including Ai Weiwei – is coming to the gardens this month.

Seeing the Invisible, described as “the most ambitious and expansive exhibition to date of contemporary artworks created with augmented reality (AR) technology” will premiere across 12 botanic gardens in six countries simultaneously in September 2021.

What you need to know

  • Ai Weiwei is among a group of artists exhibiting AR works
  • The exhibitions will be staged in Melbourne and Cranbourne’s botanical gardens
  • Augmented reality art is seen through your smartphone as virtual projections

Stay up to date with what’s happening in Melbourne here.

In addition to work by Weiwei, other artists who will exhibit across the gardens include Sydney’s Mel O’Callaghan, Refik Anadol, El Anatsui, Mohammed Kazem, Sigalit Landau, Sarah Meyohas, Pamela Rosenkranz, and Timur Si-Qin.

The works will also be shown in gardens in the USA, UK, Israel, South Africa and Canada, however Melbourne and Cranbourne’s Royal Botanical Gardens have exclusive rights down under.

The exhibition aims to forge “new links between botanical gardens located in diverse biomes around the globe” and foster “collaboration between institutions, artists, and audiences, highlighting the power of art to connect people around the world.”

The exhibition will be accessible via a smartphone and tablet through the Seeing the Invisible app.

For more information, head to the Botanical Gardens’ website here.