Ai Weiwei writes memoir, essays and statements alongside his work as a conceptual artist. 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows combines his own life with the story of his father, poet Ai Qing, moving from the family's persecution during Maoist campaigns through Ai's years in New York, his return to China, artistic career, political activism and detention. Other books such as Humanity gather short reflections on migration, borders and human rights, while exhibition catalogues and collections of interviews connect his writing directly to sculpture, installation, architecture, photography and social media. His prose is direct and political, with personal history often used to explain why questions of censorship, state power and freedom recur in the art. His books fit artist memoir, modern Chinese history, human-rights writing and contemporary art. 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows is the strongest text-led starting point, combining artist memoir, modern Chinese history and political writing in a way that explains why censorship, state power and freedom recur throughout Ai's visual work. Read more Less
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