A popular art installation is cycling its way back to The Forks. Forever Bicycles by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was unveiled in CN Field Tuesday morning. The art installation is on loan to The Forks from the National Gallery of Canada for the next 10 years.
“It feels like a homecoming,” said Sara Stasiuk, CEO of The Forks North Portage. “It is so wonderful to have this piece back in this location. As we were doing the build, we realized really how much this piece resonates with Winnipeg.
So many people were coming up and sharing that they got engaged under that thing, that they grabbed these incredible photos for their Christmas cards. And we just realized how much public art in a public space like this really enables people to experience art in a way that they just wouldn't otherwise.” Forever Bicycles consists of more than 1,200 bike frames that are crafted together and create an optical illusion.
It symbolizes the role of bicycles in Chinese culture. The art was previously on display at The Forks from 2019 to 2022. Josée Drouin-Brisebois with the National Gallery of Canada said the piece had resonated with Winnipeggers.
“Just seeing it in the prairie sky, in this really open area, it’s so beautiful, and that's not something you can do anywhere,” she said..