Dissident artist Ai Weiwei is famous for conceptual artworks that challenge authority and explore the links between the contemporary world and traditional Chinese culture. His photographs, sculptures, films, performances, and installations earned him ire from the Chinese government, which imprisoned him for 81 days in 2011 and razed his studio in 2018. Ai left the country in 2015. His most lauded works include Sunflower Seeds (2010)—for which the artist scattered 100 million porcelain “seeds” (hand-painted by Chinese artisans) across the floor of Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall—and Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn (1995), in which he destroyed the eponymous cultural artifact. Urns are frequent motifs throughout Ai’s practice, which often comments on mass consumption, individuality, censorship, and interconnections among contemporary cultures. Ai studied at the Beijing Film Academy before attending Parsons School