Ai Weiwei, “Camouflage,” 2025. Exterior view of installation. FDR Four Freedoms State Park. Image Credit: Andy Romer Photography. Courtesy of Four Freedoms Park Conservancy
An installation by renowned artist and activist Ai Weiwei opened on Roosevelt Island this week. “Camouflage” takes over all 3.5 acres of FDR Four Freedoms State Park and includes an open architectural structure draped with camouflage netting, creating a shelter over the bust of Franklin D. Roosevelt. The work, Ai’s first in New York City since 2017, coincides with the 80th session of the U.N. General Assembly and the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. The artwork is free to visit, but timed-entry tickets are recommended.
“Camouflage” is the first commission under the Four Freedoms Park Conservancy’s new initiative, Art X Freedom. The program invites artists to create site-specific works that examine social justice and freedom.
A fitting choice for the first commission, Ai is an artist and Chinese dissident known for his works highlighting human rights and freedom of expression.
“Artists have paved the way in activism and advocacy throughout history,” Howard Axel, CEO of Four Freedoms Park Conservancy, said. “It is an honor to collaborate with Ai Weiwei on ‘Camouflage,’ which transforms this presidential memorial and state park into a vibrant platform for discussion and reflections on the enduring impacts of war and human conflict.”
“Camouflage” is inspired by the Four Freedoms State Park, designed by architect Louis Kahn to honor FDR. Located at the southern tip of Roosevelt Island, the park, which opened in 2012, appropriately sits across from the United Nations headquarters. The memorial is centered around the statue of Roosevelt and his iconic speech on the Four Freedoms.
The installation, which includes a pavilion designed by Brooklyn-based firm Camber Studio, uses camouflage as a motif. The patterned netting, reinterpreted with cats instead of the usual abstract shapes as a nod to the cat sanctuary on the island, covers the sides of the granite embankments alongside the park.
By using cats, the work “reminds viewers that while human beings face crises of their own making, animals bear the brunt of these consequences, entirely innocent yet deeply affected,” as the project website notes.
The project also explores Roosevelt’s four freedoms, which he championed: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.
At the end point of the passage, a wooden frame structure was installed and draped in the same camouflage netting, forming a pavilion for people to gather and find peace.
Hanging from the structure is an illuminated sign of a Ukrainian proverb, which translates to: “For some people, war is war; for others, war is the dear mother.”
The installation incorporates public input. Visitors are encouraged to write reflections on ribbons that will be tied onto the netting.
Entry is free to see Camouflage, but there is a limited capacity. Visitors are encouraged to reserve a timed ticket through Eventbrite. The installation will stay open through November 10.
As 6sqft previously reported, Ai’s last major work in New York was “Good Fences Make Good Neighbors,” commissioned in 2017 by the Public Design Commission. The multi-site exhibition was a response to the global migration crisis and to show that while barriers divide us, “humans… are all the same.”
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“Camouflage” by Ai Weiwei. All photos courtesy of Four Freedoms Park Conservancy
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