Famed Chinese artist Ai Weiwei said that freedom of speech issues are widespread across the world in a recent talk at Hay Festival Segovia, a literature and arts festival that takes place annually in Segovia, Spain.
Speaking on a screen over video-conference with Anne McElvoy, executive editor of The Economist, Ai spoke at length about political dissidents, human rights, and freedom of speech, though his criticism was not limited to China. During an exchange about Ai’s time in Europe exploring the refugee crisis in the mid-2010s, McElvoy asked if the artist thought Western countries also had an issue with freedom of speech.