Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads is an artwork by Chinese contemporary artist and political commentator, Ai Weiwei. The work comes in a small (gold) and large (bronze) version. Created in 2010, the zodiac heads (a Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig) are inspired by those which once comprised a water clock-fountain at the Old Summer Palace, which is a complex of palaces and gardens in Beijing that were constructed by the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty. The Old Summer Palace was eventually destroyed by French and British troops in
Letter of the Six by going to the American embassy without telling the others. Addressed to President Nicolae Ceaușescu, the letter was a left-wing critique of Ceaușescu's policies. It appealed to the type of humanism supported by Mikhail Gorbachev, although the latter was not mentioned by name. The text of the letter was very clear in its practical demands and set a stark tone, particularly the part in which they compare Romania with Africa, hinting to a future of underdevelopment. The document was immediately broadcast on Radio Free Europe, BBC Radio, and Voice of America. The broadcast of the letter led to the swift