Image: Ai Weiwei, Mushrooms 2026, installation view, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, 2026, cast iron, commissioned by the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia for the 2026 Neil Balnaves Tallawoladah Lawn Commission, image courtesy Ai Weiwei Studio, MCA Australia, Galleria Continua and Lisson Gallery © Ai Weiwei Studio, photograph: Anna Kučera
‘Mushrooms’ is a meditation on the fragility of life at a time of conflict and division. Its cast-iron combat helmets transform symbols of war into a declaration for peace, giving the work’s central material and subject a stated relationship to conflict and peace.
Ai Weiwei says the work responds to the conditions of the present century: ‘In the era we live in, the 21st century, wars have not ceased,’ he says. ‘We continue to exist in a time where war and peace interchangeably assume each other’s roles, shaping the identity of our age. I hope this work prompts people to reflect on war and peace.’
The sculpture was created for the second instalment of the Neil Balnaves Tallawoladah Lawn Commission series at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. That commission is identified as the MCA’s second instalment of the Neil Balnaves Tallawoladah Lawn Commission series, for which Ai Weiwei created the new sculpture.
‘Mushrooms’ is on display until April 2027 at Tallawoladah Lawn, Gadigal Country, at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Admission is free, and the work is open to the public at all times.
