The Last Carnival
October 22, 2025
On October 22, Cai Guo-Qiang and his custom AI model cAI™ realized The Last Carnival, a daytime fireworks performance marking the Centre Pompidou’s closure for renovation in Paris.
For nearly twenty minutes, the façade became a vast, three-dimensional canvas of fireworks. Structured in three acts, The Banquet, The Dawn of AI, and The Last Carnival, the work functioned both as a farewell to the Pompidou’s first major closure since its opening in 1977 and as an explosion into the future.
Curated by Jérôme Neutres and narrated by cAI™, it explored anthropocentric art history and interspecies dialogue in the age of artificial intelligence.
Cai Guo-Qiang: Radiance of Spring
May 29–September 27, 2026
On May 29, Cai Guo-Qiang’s solo exhibition Radiance of Spring opened to the public at the Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey, a UNESCO World Heritage site in France.
Radiance of Spring coincides with the centenary of the passing of Claude Monet. Commissioned by Normandie Impressionniste 2026, the exhibition is curated by Philippe Platel, the festival’s General and Artistic Director.
When the Sky Blooms with Sakura
June 26, 2023
On June 26th at 12:00 PM, Cai Guo-Qiang realized the daytime fireworks When the Sky Blooms with Sakura at Yotsukura Beach in Iwaki City, Japan, an area which had been devastated by the 2011 Japan earthquake and the resulting tsunami.
As part of a commitment to creative excellence beyond fashion—and driven by an admiration for Cai Guo-Qiang’s art and forward-thinking vision—Anthony Vaccarello commissioned the project for SAINT LAURENT. The project was organized by the Iwaki Executive Committee of When the Sky Blooms with Sakura.
Making History at TED2024: Cai Guo-Qiang “Speaks” English
April 16, 2024
On April 15, 2024, the 5-day TED2024 conference commenced in Vancouver, Canada. Marking the 40th anniversary of the organization’s founding, this year’s conference theme, “The Brave and the Brilliant,” centered on “celebrating creativity, ingenuity, courage, wisdom and generosity.”
For his talk, Cai utilized a custom-built AI model developed by metaphysic.ai to convert the live English interpretation of his Chinese speech in real time, using his own voice. This marked Cai’s first speech in English and also became the first instance in TED history of simultaneous interpretation using AI technology. The talk was received with a standing ovation.
View the full talk here
For additional exhibitions, please see our Calendar.