MCLC: Ai Weiwei baby formula map

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: Ai Weiwei baby formula map
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Source: Blouin Art Info:
http://hk.blouinartinfo.com/ajax/forward/node/904376

Baby Formula Map of China by Ai Wei Wei
by Zoe Li

HONG KONG ‹ Ai Wei Wei
<http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/32223/who-is-ai-weiwei/>is
currently showing a new installation inspired by the problematic
consumption of milk powder in China and Hong Kong.

³Baby Formula 2013² is a giant map of China made from 1,815 full cans of
baby formula covering about 80-square-meters of exhibition space at the
Sheung Wan Civic Centre. The installation addresses China¹s food safety
issues, specifically the 2008 melamine-tainted baby milk formula scandal
that resulted in the death of six infants and more than 300,000 others
falling ill.

"A country like this can put a satellite into space but it can't put a
safe bottle teat into a child's mouth. I think it's extremely absurd," Ai
told Reuters this week in his Beijing studio.

The trauma of the scandal has led to a rush on milk powder produced
outside of China. Mainland Chinese tourists travel to Hong Kong, and
further abroad to Canada, the UK, and Australia, to buy up cans of infant
milk powder in bulk.

Visitor purchases have affected the availability of milk powder in Hong
Kong to such an extent that legislation has recently been introduced to
restrict the amount of formula a visiting family can purchase at one time.
Since March 1 of this year, travelers leaving Hong Kong with more than 1.8
kilograms of formula risk fines of HK$500,000 (US$64,000) and sentences of
up to two years.

Currently part of the exhibition ³A Journal of the Plague Year. Fear,
ghosts, rebels, SARs, Leslie and the Hong Kong story² presented by Para
Site Art Space, Ai¹s installation will be displayed until May 26, while
the rest of the exhibition will continue until July 20.

The group exhibition explores the role of plague in creating the identity
of Hong Kong as an other. Curated by Cosmin Costinas and Inti Guerrero,
themes range from the plague of 1894 to the 2003 SARs crisis. Other
artists in the show include George Chinner, Megan Cope, Bernd Behr, Lam
Qua, Lee Kit, Samson Young, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Adrian Wong, Ming
Wong, and more.
³A Journal of the Plague Year. Fear, ghosts, rebels, SARs, Leslie and the
Hong Kong story² presented by Para Site Art Space until July 20,
www.para-site.org.hk
<http://www.para-site.org.hk/en/exhibitions/2013/journal-plague-year-fear-g
hosts-rebels-sars-leslie-and-hong-kong-story>.