Blenheim Palace: birthplace of Winston Churchill, home to the late John George Vanderbilt Henry Spencer-Churchill—aka the 11th Duke of Marlborough—and his family for generations, and now backdrop to the cunning and contemporary work of the Chinese artist and activist, Ai Weiwei.

The inaugural show of the Blenheim Art Foundation, Ai Weiwei at Blenheim Palace juxtaposes the storied grandeur of the estate and its Capability Brown-designed grounds, and the work of an artist who explores notions of class, politics, and mobility from the confines of his studio in Beijing. 

The tagline could be: No Weiwei in sight, yet Weiwei everywhere. Unable to leave China since 2008, the ample, charismatic figure that is Ai Weiwei was noticeably missing during the installation of his works at Blenheim, which are documented in the second of a two-part series by filmmaker Jessica Sarah Rinland. 

Today, as the exhibition nears its December close, priceless Han dynasty vases emblazoned with Coca-Cola logos sit in the palace’s Great Hall, and thousands of porcelain crabs invade the sumptuous Red Drawing Room, a naughty intervention amidst cumbersome antiques and golden-framed portraits of Duke’s past. 

A table in the Long Library boasts a collection of family photographs and countless pictures of the recently deceased 11th Duke of Marlborough visiting with international Heads of State, while the surrounding walls are adorned with Weiwei’s Study of Perspective series. The 40 photographs show the artist flicking his middle finger at well-known monuments around the world, from the Coliseum in Rome, to the White House in Washington DC—a simultaneous reminder of, and a defiant farewell to, the globetrotting days of an earlier life. 

Natalia Rachlin is Design Editor-at-Large at NOWNESS.

Ai Weiwei at Blenheim Palace runs through December 14.