62 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • OCTOBER 19, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
buzz
Ai Weiwei exhibit opens at Unisphere
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com
As part of his “Good Fences Make
Good Neighbors” installation, artist Ai
Weiwei has constructed security fences
around well-known sites around the
city, including the Unisphere at Flushing
Meadows Corona Park.
Weiwei, who is Chinese but went to
college in New York City in the ’80s, was
inspired by the international migration
crisis that has displaced millions from
their homes. Th e point of the exhibit is to
draw “attention to the role of the fence in
dividing people.”
In addition to the sculptures, Weiwei
will erect 200 unique banners around
lamposts that feature portraits of immigrants
from other time periods and 98
images from his recently released documentary
titled “Human Flow.” Weiwei
visited 23 countries to speak with refugees
searching for shelter.
Th e structure at Flushing Meadows
Corona Park, titled “Circle Fence,” consists
of a low-perimeter fence around the
Unisphere.
“Rather than impeding views of the historical
site, the installation will emphasize
the Unisphere’s form and symbolic
meaning, engaging with the steel representation
of the Earth by surrounding
it with mesh netting strung around metal
stanchion barriers,” the project description
read.
Weiwei, a sculptor, architect, fi lmmaker,
photographer, writer, publisher, curator
and activist, was born in Beijing,
China, in 1957. From 1983 through 1993,
he lived in New York City, where he
attended the Parsons School of Design.
Th e artist and activist has experience
with displacement as his family was punished
by the Chinese government for
speaking out during China’s Cultural
Revolution.
Weiwei’s father, poet Ai Qing, was
named an enemy of the state and was
exiled with his family to Shihezi, Xinjiang
Province and was forced to clean communal
toilets.
Weiwei returned to China in 1993,
where he was a political activist as well as
an artist. In 2011, he was arrested along
with other high-profi le activists in a government
crackdown. His passport was
also revoked by the government until
2015.
“As the epicenter of art and culture,
New York City is the perfect canvas for
Ai Weiwei’s work,” said Mayor Bill de
Blasio. “Ambitious projects like ‘Good
Fences Make Good Neighbors’ foster cultural
discourse, challenge us, and can
bring about real social progress. We are
thrilled to share our iconic public spaces
with these bold installations.”
Th e exhibition is presented by the
Public Art Fund, which is celebrating its
40th anniversary. Th e pieces will be up
until Feb. 11, 2018.
Diwali Motorcade comes to Richmond Hill
BY ROB MACKAY
rmackay@queensny.org
Diwali is an annual, international
Hindu ritual also known as “Th e Festival
of Lights.” Th e Diwali Motorcade is an
annual Queens extravaganza that honors
the tradition with a multi-hour explosion
of color, music, clothes, chants, incense,
food and cars.
Th is year’s fun took place on Saturday,
Oct. 14, in Richmond Hill.
Th e ceremony unfolded in three parts.
Th ings kicked off with a Pooja and Hawan
religious service at Th e Arya Spiritual
Center Grounds at 104-20 133rd St.
Henna-covered worshipers gathered
outside to chant sacred verses (mantras)
and off er dried fruit and nuts. Th ey
burned oil lamps and incense in hearths
adorned with sacred photos and fl owers;
chant together; and make off erings.
At around 5:30 p.m., an estimated 40
brightly decorated fl oats carrying sariclad
women covered in sparkling gold
jewelry and musicians with sitars and tablas
assembled in the vicinity of Liberty
Avenue and 133rd Street. Th e fl oats,
sponsored by local and national businesses
and nonprofi ts, were judged on beauty,
creativity, originality and relevance
to Diwali by representatives of the Divya
Jyoti Association of New York, the event
organizer.
Th en with Tassa drummers prancing
around the roadway and Shri Trimurti
Bhavan Hindu Temple President
Dhanpaul Narine as grand marshal,
the caravan slowly rolled down Liberty
Avenue before bearing right at 123rd
Street and taking another right on 103rd
Avenue before heading back to 133rd
Street for a stage show. Scheduled artists
included the Shelly Ramnanan Cultural
Dance School, the Natraj Center for the
Performing Arts, the Sanasani Cultural
Organization, the Krishna Mandir Youth
Group, and the David Ali Dance Group.
Diwali is a national holiday in countries
with large Hindu populations, such
as Guyana, India, Nepal, and Trinidad
and Tobago. (Some Buddhists, Jains and
Sikhs celebrate it, too.) Th e ritual is dedicated
to Lakshmi, the Goddess of Light.
For many believers, it’s the most positive
time of year, when good triumphs over
evil, knowledge overcomes ignorance,
and hope prevails over despair. Diwali’s
roots are in ancient India, although its
origins are in dispute. It might have started
as a harvest festival, but some believers
think it stems from the celebration
of Laskhmi’s marriage to Lord Vishnu.
Others argue that it began as a birthday
party of Lakshmi.
Many Indians brought Diwali with
them when they immigrated to Guyana,
Trinidad and other West Indian islands in
the 19th century. Th en in the 1980s, many
Caribbean-born descendants of these
Indians started relocating to Richmond
Hill, which is now called “Little Guyana.”
Th e Diwali Motorcade fi rst appeared in
Richmond Hill in 1999.
Diwali was celebrated in Richmond Hill on Oct. 14.
Photos by Lakshmee Singh
Photo by Timothy Schenck
Artist Ai Weiwei installed a fence around the Unisphere at Flushing Meadows Corona Park.