Writers Bloc and the Skirball Cultural Center Present
Ai Weiwei
Wednesday, November 3, 2021
5:00pm PDT
Exclusive Paid Livestream
Join us for the only virtual event in the United States with Ai Weiwei.
We are delighted to co-host with the University Club of Chicago and Arts & Letters Live at the Dallas Museum of Art.
Price: $42. Each ticket to the pretaped virtual event includes one copy of Ai Weiwei’s memoir, 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows. A limited number of books will be signed. Your book will be shipped after November 2 (publication date) to the address you provide when you purchase a ticket. Books can only be shipped to the United States.
Internationally acclaimed artist Ai Weiwei recounts his growth and development as an artist dedicated to human rights and social activism, through the prism of the last 100 years of Chinese history. In his highly anticipated memoir, 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows, Ai Weiwei weaves his own personal and artistic development from his distinguished family’s exile to a life of hard labor during the Cultural Revolution into the larger narrative of human rights abuses in China–which informed his work and commitment to social justice. As he explores his decision to leave China and pursue his professional education and career in America and Europe, his personal turbulence, including time spent in a Chinese prison, reflect the political and social repression in the Chinese totalitarian regime that singularly propelled him to his current status as international superstar in both human rights activism and in the arts.
If you have had the opportunity to experience any of Ai Weiwei’s recent installations, including the recent and extraordinary exhibition at the Skirball, we urge you to attend this virtual event.
Theaster Gates is an exceptionally influential American artist. Trained in both urban planning and preservation, Gates focuses on innovative reclamation and redevelopment of abandoned buildings for community use. His work reshapes urban ruins into buildings whose invigoration creates social and political change– and hope. Gates is a professor at the University of Chicago.
Author photo credit: Ai Weiwei Studio
Theaster Gates photo credit: Rankin
