Ai Weiwei has been called “the most important artist working today” (Financial Times) and “an eloquent and unsilenceable voice of freedom” (New York Times). His sculptures and installations have been viewed by millions around the globe. His political activism around human rights, censorship and corruption has long made him a target of the Chinese authorities, which culminated in months of secret detention without charge in 2011. In 2021, he published his memoir, “1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows”, which is the story of his life, the life of his father, the poet Ai Qing, and of China over the last 100 years. He was born in 1957.
