Berlin, August 11, 2026
The artist Ai Weiwei stated on the ARD talk show Maischberger that he would prefer to return to China and spoke about the difficulty of fully expressing himself in a foreign language.
On Tuesday evening, Ai Weiwei spoke at length on the Maischberger talk show about his relationship with China, his artistic work, and his life in exile. The artist, who has lived in the West for years, said he would prefer to return to his homeland. At the same time, he pointed to the restrictions he faces as a critical artist vis-à-vis the Chinese Communist Party.
In conversation with the host, Ai Weiwei spoke about the difficulties of appearing in a foreign language. He said verbatim: „aber nach dem Gespräch werde ich durchaus traurig sein, weil es einfach nicht meine Sprache ist, und ich kann kaum 10 Prozent dessen ausdrücken, was ich im Kopf habe“. He thus referred to the feeling of only being able to hint at many things in a non-mother-tongue interview.