India, Feb. 10 -- What is the role of an artist in contemporary times?

"As an artist, as an individual, you have to defend what you believe, right? Because that is exactly the kind of work that would help human society," says Ai Weiwei, the Chinese artist who has, through his works, addressed some of the most pressing issues of our times: the excesses of authoritarianism, the threats facing democracy, large-scale global migration caused by war, and more recently, artificial intelligence.

Ai, 68, perhaps the best known contemporary Chinese artist -- and some would leave the word contemporary out of that description -- is in Delhi till Saturday to promote his first-ever exhibition in the country. His works range from films and performance...