Who am I? A conversation with Ai Weiwei

In his latest project Ai vs AI, the multi-talented artist Ai Weiwei asked the artificial intelligence 81 existential and political questions, equal to the number of days he had been detained. Who am I? is the last of these questions, left unanswered.

Registration to Who am I?

Agenda

Welcome

• Simona Tondelli, Deputy Rector of the University of Bologna
• Riccardo Brizzi, head of the Department of the Arts, University of Bologna
• Francesco Maria Spampinato, Director of Second Cycle Degree in Visual Arts, University of Bologna

Conversation

Ai Weiwei talks with Arturo Galansino, General Manager of Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi

The event will be given in English. Simultaneous translation will not provided.

Biography

Ai Weiwei is a Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian, and activist. Ai grew up in the far northwest of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been openly critical of the Chinese Government's stance on democracy and human rights. He investigated government corruption and cover-ups, in particular the Sichuan schools corruption scandal following the collapse of "tofu-dreg schools" in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. In April 2011, Ai Weiwei was arrested for "economic crimes" and detained for 81 days without charge. Ai Weiwei emerged as a vital instigator in Chinese cultural development, an architect of Chinese modernism, and one of the nation's most vocal political commentators

Ai Weiwei encapsulates political conviction and poetry in his many sculptures, photographs, and public works. Since being allowed to leave China in 2015, he has lived in Portugal, Germany, and the United Kingdom

Ai vs AI: Ai Weiwei asks 81 questions to Artificial Intelligence

“This is not about freedom of speech. This is about freedom of questions,” says Ai Weiwei. “Everybody has the right to ask questions”.

Over a period of 81 days – the length of time Ai spent detained in a Chinese prison – the artist posed 81 questions addressed to artificial intelligence (AI). Each question carefully considers the role of humankinds’ minds and actions in a fast-changing world, amid accelerating global crises and the rise of new technologies. These 81 philosophical provocations – idiosyncratic, humane, humorous and incisive – explore the centrality of our own personal quests to make sense of a world that has reached information overload.