What message did the 9,000 backpacks in Remembering display?

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Chinese activist and artist Ai Weiwei in 2019, facing the camera and wearing a black zip-up jacket. — Ai Weiwei Ai Weiwei, 2019.

In his 2009 installation Remembering, Ai Weiwei used 9,000 colorful backpacks to form a message in Chinese characters on the facade of the Haus der Kunst in Munich.1

The text, which translates to "She lived happily for seven years in this world," was a quote from the mother of a child who died in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. By displaying this message, Ai highlighted the tragic loss of life caused by the collapse of poorly constructed school buildings and criticized the government's failure to release accurate information regarding the student fatalities.1