Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly

In 2014, renowned artist Ai Weiwei created @Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz, and engaged nearly 900,000 visitors in a conversation about human rights and freedom of expression. One installation in the exhibition was Yours Truly, which invited visitors to write postcards to prisoners of conscience around the world. In total, 92,829 messages of hope, humour, and solidarity were written and sent.

This book delves into those postcards’ lasting impact. Five former prisoners and their loved ones reflect on the experience of receiving hundreds of postcards while imprisoned. A statement by Ai Weiwei, plus essays by the exhibition curators and rights advocate Jasmine Heiss, contextualise this extraordinary project. Photographs from the exhibition show visitors and the postcards they wrote.

The book also includes a guide to defending human rights and four pre-addressed, tear-out postcards, inviting readers to get involved and send personal messages to current prisoners of conscience.