He is the most famous Chinese dissident and one of the best-known contemporary artists in the world. Ai Weiwei was harassed by the Chinese authorities, who bulldozed his Shanghai studio, sent him to jail without charge and drove him out of his country. After the February 2 publication of the French translation of his memoir, "1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows", the artist sat with Eve Jackson to talk about the moment in a Chinese prison when he decided to write his life’s story for his son and what he learned growing up in a labour camp with his persecuted father, the poet Ai Qing.
They also discussed his loneliness living in New York and his constant search for freedom and truth.
Asked about the Western diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Ai Weiwei described the move as "hypocritical" and "a joke".
