1000 years of joy and sorrow

One of the greatest artists of our time recounts his life against the background of China's historyIn his memoirs, Ai Weiwei describes his artistic career against the background of his family's history. His father Ai Qing was once a close confidant of Mao Zedong and China's most influential poet. In the wake of the Cultural Revolution, Ai Qing was branded a "deviant from the law" and sentenced to forced labor. The entire family was exiled to a remote part of the country known as "Little Siberia." Ai Weiwei recounts his childhood there and the difficult decision to leave his family to go to the United States to study art. There he befriended Allen Ginsberg and was inspired by Marcel Duchamp and Andy Warhol. Candid and witty, Ai Weiwei describes his return to China, his rise to art world stardom, and his evolution into an international human rights activist. Unabridged reading with Stefan Wilkening2 MP3 CDs, 14h 26min.