Tomorrow’s Tigers: new rugs by Ai Weiwei, Peter Doig and more set for roaring success in charity exhibition

Including new designs by Ai Weiwei, Peter Doig, Kiki Smith, and Anish Kapoor, Tomorrow’s Tigers 2022 is a major fundraising project benefitting WWF

Peter Doig Tiger Fight rug for tomorrow's tigers
A first look at Peter Doig's art rug, Tiger Fight
(Image credit: Courtesy Artwise)

Tomorrow’s Tigers 2022 is a major fundraising project organised by WWF (Worldwide Fund for Nature). Comprising a selling exhibition, it will feature specially commissioned, limited-edition art rugs by 12 major international artists. Highlights include a limited-edition piece designed by Peter Doig and a one-off art rug by Ai Weiwei

Tomorrow’s Tigers 2022 marks a new phase in the critically acclaimed project, conceived and curated by Artwise Curators, in collaboration with specialist rug brand Christopher Farr. 

Ai Weiwei with his rug The Tyger, commissioned for Tomorrow’s Tigers and WWF - UK. Curated by Artwise, fabricated by Christopher Farr

Ai Weiwei with his rug The Tyger, commissioned for Tomorrow’s Tigers and WWF UK. Curated by Artwise, fabricated by Christopher Farr

(Image credit: Thierry Bal, courtesy Ai Weiwei)

Featured artists behind the colourful rugs are Ai Weiwei, Francesco Clemente, Peter Doig, Bernard Frize, Gary Hume, Reena Saini Kallat, Anish Kapoor, Maya Lin, Harland Miller, Raqib Shaw, Kiki Smith and Rose Wylie.

The initiative seeks to highlight the ongoing and critical threat to wild tiger populations and WWF’s efforts to remedy the decline. Coinciding with the Lunar Year of the Tiger and the global TX2 pledge to double tiger numbers by the end of 2022, an exhibition of the art rugs will be held at Sotheby’s, London from 24-29 November 2022. The rugs will be available to buy through the website of Art for Your World, an organisation working with the art world to help tackle the climate and nature crisis.

Excluding the unique design by Ai Weiwei, the commissioned rugs are each made in a limited edition run of up to ten and will be on sale at prices ranging from £10,000 to £150,000.

Kiki Smith rug featuring a tiger, Pounce. Commissioned for Tomorrow’s Tigers and WWF UK

Kiki Smith, Pounce. Commissioned for Tomorrow’s Tigers and WWF UK. Curated by Artwise, fabricated by Christopher Farr

(Image credit: Artwise)

‘I wanted to have a rug made that would respond and refer to the magical Tibetan tiger rugs that were partly the inspiration for this project. It is terrifying how few tigers are left in the wild and the thought of them one day only existing in captivity is truly tragic,’ says Peter Doig of his new rug, Tiger Fight. ‘My imagery takes its tigers from an existing rug but adds a narrative that could be about a fight for survival or being made to perform in some grotesque circus with an abstracted human crowd looking on. The phenomenal craftsmanship and skill in the making of these rugs and the brilliant interpretation of my painting before this makes for a really collaborative endeavor.’ 

Tomorrow’s Tigers, Curated by Artwise for WWF, 24.11.22 – 29.11.22 At Sotheby’s London 34-35 New Bond Street London W1A 2AA UK. artforyourworld.wwf.org.uk

instagram.com/artforyourworld

Harland Miller graphic rug featuring the word 'if'

Harland Miller

(Image credit: Artwise)

Bernard Frize abstract rug, What the Tiger Says. Commissioned for Tomorrow’s Tigers and WWF - UK

Bernard Frize, What the Tiger Says. Commissioned for Tomorrow’s Tigers and WWF UK. Curated by Artwise, fabricated by Christopher Farr

(Image credit: Artwise)

Maya Lin rug featuring tiger paw prints, With the Weight of Each Step. Commissioned for Tomorrow’s Tigers and WWF - UK

Maya Lin, With the Weight of Each Step. Commissioned for Tomorrow’s Tigers and WWF UK. Curated by Artwise, fabricated by Christopher Farr

(Image credit: Artwise)

Harriet Lloyd-Smith was the Arts Editor of Wallpaper*, responsible for the art pages across digital and print, including profiles, exhibition reviews, and contemporary art collaborations. She started at Wallpaper* in 2017 and has written for leading contemporary art publications, auction houses and arts charities, and lectured on review writing and art journalism. When she’s not writing about art, she’s making her own.