ai weiwei brings contemporary issues to debut opera ‘turandot’ in rome

ai weiwei’s first and last opera

for his most recent creative undertaking, artist and activist ai weiwei has turned his hand to opera with a new reading of puccini’s ‘turandot’. postponed for two years due to the pandemic, turandot will be weiwei’s first and only opera production and it’s scheduled at the teatro dell’opera in rome from march 22 to 31, 2022.

showcasing his creative versatility, the artist has conceived every aspect of the new staging, including direction, set design, costumes, and video projections. 

‘it is exciting to immerse yourself in the historical development of opera and dramaturgy, relating them to my personal experience and to my idea of the stage, performance, narrative, representation,’ explains ai weiwei. ‘opera is an incredibly rich form of art that stimulates the best qualities of human ingenuity, commitment, mastery, excellence. it will be my point of view, the opera immersed in the contemporary.’

a classic tale meets contemporary culture

first performed at milan’s la scala theater in 1926, giacomo puccini’s ‘turandot’ is an epic tale of love and violence set in an imagined version of china. in this latest theatrical direction of the famous opera, ai weiwei offers a modern interpretation, imbuing the original narrative with his thoughts on the great tragedies of today’s world.

‘my turandot is still related to the classic understanding of love, hatred, revenge, and about people trying to accomplish something which is impossible,’ says weiwei.

for the costumes, set design, and video projections, weiwei created a total stage experience with powerful images and sculptural forms. 

the artist decided to take on this opera in particular because, at a very young age, he had been an extra in zeffirelli’s production of turandot at the metropolitan in new york. ‘new york itself is like opera,’ comments weiwei. ‘but I never could have imagined, 35 years later, I would become a director of the same opera performance… I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to do it.’

ukrainian conductor oksana lyniv says, ‘turandot is for me a work of great symbolic value. with his latest opera, puccini, the greatest italian composer of the twentieth century, rather than giving answers, he asks us questions, it is a suspended doubt, like the reality we are experiencing. through turandot I want to be the interpreter of the message that puccini wanted to leave to posterity in the last moments of his life, namely that love in the end is what matters more than anything else.’

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project info:

name: turandot

direction, scenes, costumes, video: ai weiwei

location: teatro costanzi, opera di roma

dates: march 22-31, 2022