More about On Censorship: 

Artist and activist Ai Weiwei examines censorship and self-censorship, through the lens of his compelling personal history, offering readers profound insights into an important topic of current and perpetual relevance.

Ai Weiwei is one of contemporary art’s greatest practitioners. He has been a voice for artistic and personal freedom of expression for decades within his native China and around the world.

This publication offers a compelling exploration of censorship and self-­censorship. Drawing on his personal experiences and advocacy for human rights, Ai Weiwei provides a uniquely informed perspective. He examines how censorship persists in authoritarian regimes as well as subtly within democratic frameworks, corporate power, the arts, and social media, arguing that its concealed and pervasive nature poses a significant threat to genuine expression. This thought-­provoking work by a singular voice invites readers to critically reconsider power, ideology, and the boundaries of free speech.

About the Author: 

Ai Weiwei (b. 1957, Beijing) is renowned for making strong aesthetic statements that resonate with timely phenomena across today’s geopolitical world. From architecture to installations, social media to documentaries, Ai uses a wide range of mediums as expressions of new ways for his audiences to examine society and its values. Ai is the recipient of the Ambassador of Conscience Award from Amnesty International and the Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent from the Human Rights Foundation. His work is the subject of numerous art monographs and exhibition catalogs, and he is the author of 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows: Two Lives, One Nation and a Century of Art Under Tyranny in China.