1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows: The story of two lives, one nation, and a century of art under tyranny

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He would spend the next two decades with his father, in effect a juvenile political prisoner in internal exile. What makes this memoir so absorbing is that it traces China’s tumultuous recent history through the eyes of its most renowned twentieth-century poet, Ai Qing, and his son, Ai Weiwei, now equally renowned in the global art world. Hans Werner Holzwarth is a book designer and editor specializing in contemporary art and photography. p>For this special edition, Ai Weiwei hand-painted hardback dust jackets in a selection of ten colours. The life of the Ai family composes a drama whose every act brings ever more egregious assaults by the state against it.

An extravagantly rewarding hybrid: a combination history of modern China, biography of a dissident poet and memoir by his provocateur son . On 3 April 2011, as he was boarding a flight to Taipei, the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was arrested at Beijing Airport.It is powerful and interesting, a unique blend of historical fact, memoir, and philosophical thoughts. Although he claims to have had “no illusions about my native land,” he finally could not completely escape its pull. After all, as Deng Xiaoping began opening China up, more and more foreigners were arriving in Beijing and asking after its most celebrated twentieth-century poet. This beautifully illustrated volume explores the inextricable link between Ai Weiwei’s art and his politics. Neon lights will be delivered in 2-4 weeks, as they are made in small batches and shipped separately from other items.

I was now nineteen, and though my ideas were often fuzzy, on one point I was clear: nobody could possibly look forward to a change more than I did. Luckily for us, after a nail-biting exit from his native land, Ai is today writing and creating his thought-provoking art installations from a new home, safe in Europe.As Ai Weiwei tried to reintegrate himself into Chinese life, he was also concluding that whereas the party was all about convincing people to toe its “correct line (正确路线),” his conception of an artist was about becoming a person who would “make no effort to please other people. This stunning new book, devised with Ai Weiwei, discusses and documents the artists remarkable exhibition Ai Weiwei The Liberty of Doubt at Kettle’s Yard. In November 2010, he was placed under house arrest after the authorities suddenly authorised the demolition of his newly built studio in Shanghai. This is a peculiar interpretation of a concept that its inventor professed was grounded in “indifference,” but it has been productive for Ai.