Today, the Bloomberg administration announced that they will delay the unveiling of Ai Weiwei’s “Circle of Animals” public art project at the Pulitzer Fountain located in front of the historic Plaza Hotel.

According to WNYC:

There’s no official word from Mayor Bloomberg’s office as to when the plastic and tape will come off the 12 bronze heads standing in a fountain outside the Plaza Hotel. But a security officer watching over the heads said the exhibit would officially open on Wednesday at 8:30 A.M.

Artinfo has a very useful multimedia biographical timeline of Ai Weiwei’s life, and CultureGrrl has also been updating her post on the situation. Also, since this is 2011, you can follow the Zodiac Heads on Twitter or Tumblr.

This unveiling could be a great opportunity for Mayor Bloomberg to demonstrate his support of the dissident Chinese artist and to speak up for human rights and free speech around the world. Stay tuned.

Today’s official NYC opening of #Ai Weiwei’s sculptural exhibition, #ZodiacHeads, has been delayed. Stay tuned for further details.less than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet Reply

All photos by the author

Hrag Vartanian is editor-in-chief and co-founder of Hyperallergic.