Ai Weiwei adds free public talk and film screening during Aspen visit

In addition to his previously announced events, the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei will speak Wednesday night at the Isis Theatre in Aspen following a free 5:30 p.m. screening of his documentary “Human Flow.”

Ai will be interviewed by Time magazine editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal in a conversation that’s expected to run about 30 minutes.

The prominent artist will be in town next week as Anderson Ranch Arts Center honors him with its International Artist Award. He will give a free public talk at Anderson Ranch in Snowmass Village earlier in the day on July 18 and will accept his award July 19 at the nonprofit’s annual recognition dinner.

Both of those events are at capacity. Ai and Anderson Ranch added the evening screening and talk in the hopes of giving more people the opportunity to hear Ai in person during his much-anticipated visit, Ranch spokeswoman Katherine Roberts said.

Born in Beijing, Ai’s work has included sculptural installations, architecture, photographs and video. He directed the acclaimed and Oscar short-listed 2017 documentary “Human Flow” about the international refugee crisis.

He has become one of the most prominent and vocal critics of the Chinese government over the past decade. Since 2011, the Chinese government has cracked down on Ai’s dissent and treated him as an enemy of the state — arresting, torturing and jailing him on multiple occasions.

Ai currently lives in Berlin and serves as the Einstein visiting professor at the Berlin University of the Arts. His recent public art projects include “Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads” in Denver’s Civic Center Park and “Good Fences Make Good Neighbors,” a work about the migration crisis that installed more than 300 site-specific sculptures across New York City.