June 30, 2026

Words: Interior Design Staff

Ai Weiwei And Rubelli Weave Symbols Of Protest Into Silk

Silk has been produced in China for some 4,000 years, and it eventually spread via the Silk Road to reach Venice, where it became central to the Renaissance economy. At Salone del Mobile, the Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei and Venetian fabric house Rubelli explored this connection in an immersive textile installation, “Ai Weiwei: About Silk.” It centers on an elaborate silk lampas based on the artist’s The Animal that Looks like a Llama but is Actually an Alpaca. Golden yellow threads woven on a red background depict surveillance cameras, handcuffs, and the titular animal. A second artwork, Finger, showed a graceful arm giving a profane hand gesture. Both bring symbols of protest to the noble material. rubelli.com

  • Black-and-white portrait of an older man with a short white beard, wearing a dark shirt, looking slightly to the side with a neutral expression.
    Ai Weiwei.
  • A woven textile featuring golden hands in various gestures on a maroon background is shown on a loom in the process of being woven.
    Photography by Claudia Zalla.
  • A person uses a tool to work on intricate gold embroidery on a rich maroon fabric.
    Photography by Claudia Zalla.
  • Close-up of a surface with densely packed, parallel lines in shades of brown, gold, and hints of pink, resembling a wood grain or layered material.
    Photography by Claudia Zalla.
  • Close-up of hands weaving an intricate gold and burgundy patterned fabric on a loom.
    Photography by Claudia Zalla.
  • A maroon textile with gold woven figures of stylized arms and faces, shown in profile, under the threads of a weaving loom.
    Photography by Claudia Zalla.

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