CHANNELDRAW · ART · GRAPHIC JOURNALISM · 2015—TODAY
Drawing Freedom
Together
Gianluca Costantini’s collaboration with Ai Weiwei
THE COLLABORATION
Drawing as a shared language
A collaboration developed through drawing, graphic journalism, books and a shared reflection on freedom of expression.
From documenting Ai Weiwei’s 2019 trial in Denmark to creating his first graphic memoir, Zodiac, drawing has become a way of recording stories, ideas and encounters across borders.
The courtroom, Denmark · 2019
The visible beginning of the collaboration: drawing outside a courtroom near Copenhagen while journalists were not allowed inside.
WEIWEI V. SKANDINAVISK MOTOR CO. A/S
Defending the right to witness
Drawings made in real time became a record of art, power and testimony.
Explore the 2019 case →
DRAWING THE TRIAL
The story across pages and publications
The graphic memoir
Twelve animals, twelve chapters, and a journey through memory, myth, politics and freedom.
ZODIAC
A graphic memoir across borders
Ai Weiwei’s first graphic memoir, created with Gianluca Costantini and Elettra Stamboulis.
Drawing becomes a shared language through which personal memory, Chinese history, mythology and contemporary politics meet.
Enter the complete Zodiac archive →The book is published in the following countries and languages
INTERNATIONAL RIGHTS & REPRESENTATIONZodiac at Bernstein Literary AgencyDiscover the book and its international journey →
ZODIAC · NEWS & RECOGNITION
Zodiac across pages and publications
NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY · 2024Zodiac Is Among the Best New Comics for Adults 2024
MORE TO COME · 2024Stargazing into 2024
THE NEW YORK TIMES · 2024Ai Weiwei’s Zodiac Is a Mystical Memory Tour
COMIX EXPERIENCE · 2024Ai Weiwei, Gianluca Costantini and Elettra Stamboulis for Zodiac
CRITICAL ESSAY · 2024Ai Weiwei’s Carto/Graphic Memoir: A Dissident Travel Narrative
AUCKLAND LIBRARIES · 2025Zodiac Is a Top 10 Graphic Novel
NEW YORK · APRIL 17, 2025 · BOOK TALK
Zodiac: Ai Weiwei’s first graphic memoir
Gianluca Costantini and Elettra Stamboulis in conversation with Julie Trébault, Executive Director of Artists at Risk Connection.
NPR · BOOK OF THE DAY · PODCAST
Ai Weiwei’s graphic memoir Zodiac recounts a life of art and activism
Ai Weiwei speaks with NPR’s Scott Simon about the memories at the heart of Zodiac, from his childhood to the 81 days he spent detained by the Chinese government.
Listen and read on NPR →
THE BOOK · THEMES · CONNECTIONS
A conceptual map of Zodiac
Twelve animals become pathways through memory, Chinese history, artistic resistance, exile and the shared work of transforming a life into drawings.
Memory & Return
Childhood, detention, departure and the unfinished possibility of return.
Ai Weiwei and the Time of Return →
Animals & Storytelling
The Chinese zodiac opens twelve narrative doors between myth and lived experience.
The Story of the Rabbit →
Art & Resistance
Drawing and dissent confront censorship, power and the limits placed on freedom.
China and Art as Resistance →
The Line & Its History
Chinese visual traditions meet contemporary graphic narration.
He Youzhi: Master of the Line →
Exile & Journey
A cartographic memoir moving through places, borders and dissident memory.
A Dissident Travel Narrative →
Book in the World
Presentations, libraries, awards and conversations extend the story beyond the page.
Best Screenplay at Comicon →WATCH · LISTEN · CONVERSATIONS
Zodiac on screen
Conversations, readings and interviews that follow Zodiac beyond the printed page, revealing the ideas, memories and collaborations behind the book.
Stories beyond the book
The collaboration continues through journalism, images and new encounters.
BEYOND ZODIAC · 2025
Ai Weiwei and
the Lost Backpack
A forgotten backpack on a German train becomes a story about exile, movement and the cold machinery of bureaucracy. For refugees and people forced from their countries, passports and visas are not ordinary papers: losing them can mean losing the ability to cross borders—or to be recognised at all.
A story by Ai Weiwei, illustrated by Gianluca Costantini. The Al Jazeera edition includes an introduction by Nick Hilden.
Ai Weiwei and the Lost Backpack: A Chinese Exile’s Brush with Bureaucracy
The international English-language publication of the illustrated story.
Read on Al Jazeera →
Gli oggetti smarriti della Germania
The Italian edition, published in Internazionale’s special travel issue.
Read on Internazionale →News, editions and printmaking
New works, fine-art editions, publications and developments emerging from the collaboration.
UDINE · 2025 · ORIGINAL PRINT
Gianluca Costantini — Ai Weiwei
An original etching and chine-collé produced with Stamperia d’arte Albicocco, translating an image from Zodiac into the material language of contemporary printmaking.
- Technique
- Etching and chine-collé
- Plate size
- 455 × 330 mm
- Sheet size
- 70 × 50 cm
- Edition
- 20 copies
Photography: Lorenzo Scaldaferro © Vicino/Lontano 2025
LATEST NEWS · ZODIAC
Recent stories
23 DECEMBER 2025Ai Weiwei and the Time of Return
11 NOVEMBER 2025Illustrated Lives: Politics, Art, and Memory in Costantini’s Comics
14 JULY 2025Zodiac Finds a Home on Austin’s Library Shelves
27 JUNE 2025Passaggi Festival 2025: Exploring Zodiac with Its Author & Artist
4 MAY 2025Zodiac Wins “Best Screenplay” at Naples Comicon
30 APRIL 2025“Zodiac. Un graphic memoir” Vicino/Lontano, Udine
Gianluca Costantini draws Ai Weiwei
Portraits, quotations and visual reflections tracing Ai Weiwei’s voice, family history and resistance through drawing.
DRAWINGS · VOICES · RESISTANCE
Drawing Ai Weiwei
Documentary and animation
Drawings created for a film portrait of Ai Weiwei’s art, exile and uncompromising commitment to dissent.
DOCUMENTARY · FRANCE · 2024
Ai Weiwei,
l’art de la dissidence
A documentary by Caroline Benarrosh follows Ai Weiwei from his studio in Portugal to the Design Museum in London, tracing the experiences that transformed the artist into an unyielding voice against injustice.
Gianluca Costantini created drawings for a series of short animations within the film, including scenes of Ai Weiwei’s childhood exile alongside his father, the poet Ai Qing.
Explore the complete project →
2015—TODAY
An evolving collaboration
First drawings
Gianluca Costantini begins drawing Ai Weiwei.
Denmark
The courtroom drawings.
Zodiac
The graphic memoir is published.
Around the world
International editions and presentations.
Beyond Zodiac
New journalistic stories and encounters.