This September, Ai Weiwei will unveil Camouflage, a monumental public installation at Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms State Park in New York. Opening on September 10th, 2025, the work launches Art X Freedom, a new initiative commissioning artists to explore themes of justice and liberty.
Positioned on Roosevelt Island across from the United Nations, the park’s modernist design by Louis Kahn inspired Weiwei’s response to the site. The installation features a large-scale structure cloaked in camouflage netting, evoking both sanctuary and conflict. Weiwei invites viewers to reflect on the tension between visibility and concealment, vulnerability and protection. Visitors will also be able to contribute personal statements on freedom, becoming part of the evolving piece. The project coincides with the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the UN General Assembly’s 80th session. Organizers described the initiative as a way to reinterpret Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms through contemporary public art. Camouflage will remain on view through December 1st, 2025.
Join us for an interview with Ai Weiwei, where he explores the power of objects, the role of time in artistic legacy, and why creativity is always linked to destruction.
