Ai Weiwei's Zodiac Heads at LongHouse

Tomorrow, August 2, LongHouse reserve welcomes guests to the much anticipated opening of is final shows of the season, and a celebratory gala from 5-7 p.m.

Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads: Gold, the traveling show of Ai Weiwei’s zodiac heads, featuring human sized golden heads of all twelve Chinese zodiac animals will go on display. 

Ai's life and work is known for his investment in politics. Ai himself has had his passport seized by the Chinese government and cannot leave China. Circle of Animals/ Zodiac Heads: Gold, is no exception, serving as a recreation of legendary bronze zodiac animal heads that once surrounded the water-clock fountain of the Yuanming Beijing imperial retreat, bringing into question the nature of national treasures and the role of citizenship.

 RERUM ALTER NATURA, an exhibit of the work of Cuban artist Yoan Capote will open to the public. Capote previously exhibited at LongHouse almost eight years ago, but his work’s general theme remains a sense of migration and exile.

Among his sculptures going on display, is a series of bronze suitcases and a pair of ten-foot long local trees that have been bronzed and wear sneakers on their roots. The trees themselves will lie next to a pair of recently dug holes.

"Both of these artists come from communist countries and its interesting to see them here together," Said Matko Tomcic, LongHouse's director, "It's fantastic to be able to show these works, we’re honored." Both shows will remain up at LongHouse through to October 12.

Accompanying the new work, there will be a performance by the Voxare Quartet. Three of the four members are graduates of the Julliard School and two are graduates of the equally acclaimed St. Petersburg Conservatory. 

The quartet has performed in around in the world in concert venues that include Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall (where they performed with the New York Philharmonic), and the Guggenheim Museum. Called,  "the best American chamber group performing today,” by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ned Rorem, Tomicic described them as a group of “talented, young, good looking people.” The concert will begin at 6 p.m.

The event comes with a $20 admission fee for non-members and a $10 admission fee for LongHouse members.

Apart from these larger events, LongHouse’s weekly summer schedule remains the same. On Mondays at 6 p.m. visitors are invited to enjoy Twilight Walking tours of the grounds. On Saturday’s at 8 a.m. Jim Owen leads Sound Meditation in the gardens. The suggested donation for participants is $18 for LongHouse members and $20 for the general public. The grounds are open to visitors from 2-5 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays, currently, but will be open Wednesday through Saturday through the end of August. On Open Days, LongHouse members have free admission but non-members must pay $10.

LongHouse Reserve is located at 133 Hands Creek Rd.