Paris department store Le Bon Marché is giving carte blanche to Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei for his first-ever exhibition in a retail space. Until Feb. 20, 2016, Ai will turn the Left Bank store into his playground with an exhibition titled “Er Xi,” or “Child’s Play” in Mandarin. Drawing inspiration from the Chinese collection of epic tales “Classic of Mountains and Seas,” he will create kites designed to evoke feathered dragons. “Showing at Le Bon Marché is using a new medium, the department store, to encounter a new audience, as broad as a museum’s; one which doesn’t come for art in principle,” the artist said in a statement. “This experience also allows me to find a new way to conceive an exhibition, with constraints that are different from a museum’s or a gallery’s. Exploring new potentials is an integral part of my work as an artist,” he added. Photography courtesy Gabriel de la Chapelle 
