Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is to carpet the floor of the Imperial War Museum’s atrium with hundreds of square feet of material decorated with bombs.
The room, which is almost 1,150 square feet and home to a Harrier jump jet, a Spitfire and a tank, will be transformed by the artist, who once covered the floor of Tate Modern in ceramic sunflower seeds.
Rebecca Newell, head of art at the south London museum, said the work, called History Of Bombs, was a “coming together of ideas” on the part of the institution and the artist.
Weiwei’s recent work includes a 196ft inflatable installation resembling a black rubber life raft filled with hundreds of anonymous human figures wearing life jackets.
Ms Newell said: “It doesn’t cover every spare inch but it will be dominated by the artwork. We hope it will start some conversations.”
The work is on display from April 2 to November 29 next year in a season of shows looking at conflict and migration. Weiwei, a critic of the Chinese government, was at the centre of an international campaign in 2011 after he was jailed without charge in the country for 81 days.
