They look like mushrooms, but they’re made of cast iron: Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has 500 combat helmets “sprouting” outside the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia in Sydney. The 40-meter installation Mushrooms has just been unveiled on Tallawoladah Lawn, a public green overlooking the famous harbor.
The helmets stand in ten even rows on a raised platform. A central aisle lets visitors walk straight through the work. Each helmet replicates a different 20th century combat model, down to the inner padding. Together, they speak to both the protection and the fragility of human life.
Germany’s Ukraine policy as catalyst
The work is bound up with a contested chapter in German policy toward Ukraine. According to the museum, the starting point for Mushrooms was the German government’s decision in early 2022 to send Ukraine some 5,000 protective helmets.
The delivery drew fierce criticism and became a symbol of what critics saw as Germany’s halting support. Kyiv’s mayor, the former boxing world champion Vitali Klitschko, said at the time: “5,000 helmets are an absolute joke. What will Germany send next as support? Pillows?”
According to the artist, the title nods to the helmets’ shape, but also to the properties of fungi, which turn rotting matter into new life and stand for growth in the dark. The word also calls up the mushroom cloud. And in Chinese, Ai said, it doubles as slang for endless delay. “I hope my work prompts people to reflect on war and peace,” he added. The installation is on view free of charge through 2028.