How To Academy, London
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Join us for an exclusive chance to meet one of the world's most prominent contemporary artsits. Ai Weiwei returns to How To Academy to share his personal experiences of censorship and warn us against its spread through authoritarian regimes and even democracies. Ai Weiwei is living proof that artists can make a difference and help us fight back. Raised in a labour camp and later beaten, surveilled and secretly detained for 81 days without being officially charged by the Chinese state, Weiwei has dedicated his life to the struggle against corruption and oppression of all kinds. As a conceptual artist and activist fighting for justice, he has become an icon in his own lifetime, renowned world-wide for his work promoting freedom of thought and expression, compassion, and humanitarian values. In conversation with internationally renowned journalist Stephen Sackur, Weiwei will share his personal experiences of censorship at the hands of the state, and show us how authoritarian regimes across the globe suppress freedom of thought and expression. Importantly, he will show us how censorship and self-censorship affect liberal, democratic countries in hidden, pernicious ways – and issue a rallying cry against complacency. You will also get a copy of Ai Weiwei’s new book, On Censorship.