This event will be held online at the original scheduled event time.
Ai Weiwei is one of the world’s most important living artists and activists. From architecture to installation, social media to documentaries, Weiwei is renowned for his timely, politically resonant statements across multiple mediums. The idea for his highly-anticipated memoir, 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows, came to Weiwei in 2011 while he was being held in secret detention by the Chinese government. The book gives a fascinating portrait of China over the past hundred years, while illuminating his personal journey and artistic career. 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.
Steven Winn is a fiction writer and award-winning arts journalist whose writing has appeared in The New York Times, Southern Poetry Review, and Sports Illustrated. Winn spent 28 years at the San Francisco Chronicle, and the last six as the Arts and Culture Critic. His past City Arts & Lectures interviews include Alonzo King, André Aciman, Susan Orlean, Frances McDormand, and Diane Keaton.
Photo Credit: Ai Weiwei Studio