Ai Weiwei documentary reveals artist's intimate childhood and father's influence

A documentary titled 'Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly' (2019) directed by Cheryl Haines explores the personal life of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. The film begins with the story of his father, poet and dissident Ai Qing, and an anonymous postcard received during his exile in a Chinese labor camp in the 1950s. This act of human warmth deeply influenced both father and son. The documentary delves into Ai Weiwei's childhood and years of deprivation on the Gobi Desert border, featuring exclusive interviews with his mother and brother. This life experience also underpins the exhibition '@Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz', a series of works on human rights organized by Haines in 2014. Haines explains she became friends with Ai Weiwei over the last decade; after his 2011 arrest by Chinese authorities for public statements against the government, she visited him in Beijing post-release. He described the profound loneliness of his 81-day imprisonment, which deeply marked his artistic practice. He asked her to find a platform to reach a wider audience, leading her to propose a prison as a venue.