Signed copy of Ai Weiwei: 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows

Signed for Tate by the author, Ai Weiwei’s memoir is an unmissable glimpse into not only the artists’ own history, but also the myriad forces that have shaped modern China, serving as a timely reminder of the urgent need to protect freedom of expression. Join the artist as he explores the origins of his exceptional creativity and passionate political beliefs through both his own life story and his father’s, whose creativity was stifled.

Once an intimate of Mao Zedong and the nation’s most celebrated poet, Ai Weiwei’s father, Ai Qing, was branded a rightist during the Cultural Revolution. He and his family were banished to a desolate place known as ‘Little Siberia’, where Ai Qing was sentenced to hard labour cleaning public toilets. Ai Weiwei recounts his childhood in exile, and his difficult decision to leave his family to study art in America, where he befriended Allen Ginsberg and was inspired by Andy Warhol. With candor and wit, he details his return to China and his rise from artistic unknown to art world superstar and international human rights activist—and how his work has been shaped by living under a totalitarian regime.

‘An impassioned testament to the enduring powers of art—to challenge the state and the status quo, to affirm essential and inconvenient truths, and to assert the indispensable agency of imagination and will in the face of political repression.’ —Michiko Kakutani

About the artist
Ai Weiwei is one of the world’s most important living artists. Born in 1957, he lives in Cambridge, UK. His sculptures and installations have been viewed by millions around the globe, and his architectural achievements include helping to design the iconic Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium in Beijing. His political activism has long made him a target of the Chinese authorities, which culminated in months of secret detention without charge in 2011.

• ISBN 9781847923509
• Hardback Yes
• No of pages 400