Humanity

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In this beautifully illustrated and deeply philosophical graphic memoir, legendary artist Ai Weiwei explores the connection between artistic expression and intellectual freedom through the lens of the Chinese zodiac.<BR><BR>ONE OF NPR’S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR<BR><BR>As a child living in exile during the Cultural Revolution, Ai Weiwei often found himself with nothing to read but government-approved comic books. Although they were restricted by the confines of political propaganda, Ai Weiwei was struck by the artists’ ability to express their thoughts on art and humanity through graphic storytelling. Now, decades later, Ai Weiwei and Italian comic artist Gianluca Costantini present Zodiac, Ai Weiwei’s first graphic memoir.<BR><BR>Inspired by the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac and their associated human characteristics, Ai Weiwei masterfully interweaves ancient Chinese folklore with stories of his life, family, and career. The narrative shifts back and forth through the years—at once in the past, present, and future—mirroring memory and our relationship to time. As readers delve deeper into the beautifully illustrated pages of Zodiac, they will find not only a personal history of Ai Weiwei and an examination of the sociopolitical climate in which he makes his art, but a philosophical exploration of what it means to find oneself through art and freedom of expression.<BR><BR>Contemplative and political, Zodiac will inspire readers to return again and again to Ai Weiwei’s musings on the relationship between art, time, and our shared humanity.

A FAMILY STORY AND THE TALE OF A NATION.<BR><BR><BR>Ai Weiwei - one of the world's most famous artists and activists - weaves a century-long epic tale of China through the story of his own life and that of his father, Ai Qing, the nation's most celebrated poet. <BR><BR>'Engrossing...a remarkable story' Sunday Times<BR><BR>Here, through the sweeping lens of his own and his father's life, Ai Weiwei tells an epic tale of China over the last 100 years, from the Cultural Revolution to the modern-day Chinese Communist Party.<BR><BR>Here is the story of a childhood spent in desolate exile after his father, Ai Qing, once China's most celebrated poet, fell foul of the authorities. Here is his move to America as a young man and his return to China, his rise from unknown to art-world superstar and international rights activist. Here is his extraordinary account of how his work has been shaped by living under a totalitarian regime.<BR><BR>It's the story of a father and a son, of exceptional creativity and passionate belief, and of how two indomitable spirits enabled the world to understand their country.<BR><BR>'A story of inherited resilience and self-determination' Observer<BR><BR>'A majestic and exquisitely serious masterpiece about his China... One of the great voices of our time' Andrew Solomon<BR><BR>'Intimate, unflinching...an instant classic' Evan Osnos, author of Age of Ambition

The artist and activist Ai Weiwei is famous worldwide. Through his art, he builds bridges and has spent his life fighting to create, maintain, and expand axes of communication. Ai Weiwei's works are found in the public spaces of countless countries, with renowned museums vying for his artifacts. But who is the person behind the international label "Ai Weiwei," and what motivates his restless creativity? Born in 1957 as the son of the Chinese poet and regime critic Ai Qing, Ai Weiwei grew up in Northeast China and Xinjiang due to his father's forced exile, later living in the USA. In 2011, he was was secretly detained for 81 days and hindered from leaving China. Shaped by painful experiences along the way, Ai Weiwei early on felt like a stranger. This existential sense of alienation, however, transforms through his art into something universal. It is no coincidence that his philosophical reflections in the book specifically recall the autumn of 2015, the turning point in Germany. Ai Weiwei experienced those weeks in Berlin before deciding to visit refugee camps around the globe. His memories are captured in this book, his "Manifesto Without Borders," serving as a confession beyond l'art pour l'art and the technocratic language of politicians: in an urgent, sometimes unsettling, but always attentive manner, this book conveys what that could mean: an appeal for peaceful communication, an act of friendly humanity, a deep commitment to our time.

A Sunday Times Bestseller A thought-provoking work by a singular voice, this short, sharp essay invites us to critically reconsider power, ideology and the boundaries of free speech. Invisible, invasive and widely taken for granted, censorship is a globalized force as much driven by commercial interests as political agendas. Ai Weiwei - artist, activist and one of the world's most influential cultural figures - has first-hand experience of its power. In this urgent piece of writing, he makes a rallying cry for free speech in an age shaped by big data, mass surveillance and intrusive new technologies of control. Ai Weiwei examines how censorship persists both in the overt propagandizing and redactions of authoritarian regimes, as well as subtly within democratic frameworks, exploring how international corporations, cultural institutions, social media and so-called ideologies of 'freedom' have provided fertile ground for new, more insidious, suppressions.

A powerful portrait of the greatest humanitarian emergency of our time, from the director of Human Flow<BR><BR>In the course of making Human Flow, his epic feature documentary about the global refugee crisis, the artist Ai Weiwei and his collaborators interviewed more than 600 refugees, aid workers, politicians, activists, doctors, and local authorities in twenty-three countries around the world. A handful of those interviews were included in the film. This book presents one hundred of these conversations in their entirety, providing compelling first-person stories of the lives of those affected by the crisis and those on the front lines of working to address its immense challenges.<BR><BR>Speaking in their own words, refugees give voice to their experiences of migrating across borders, living in refugee camps, and struggling to rebuild their lives in unfamiliar and uncertain surroundings. They talk about the dire circumstances that drove them to migrate, whether war, famine, or persecution; and their hopes and fears for the future. A wide range of related voices provides context for the historical evolution of this crisis, the challenges for regions and states, and the options for moving forward.<BR><BR>Complete with photographs taken by Ai Weiwei while filming Human Flow, this book provides a powerful, personal, and moving account of the most urgent humanitarian crisis of our time.