The relationship between the Chinese government and me is like a Cold War.
AI WEIWEII believe [the architecture firm] Herzog and de Meuron and our collaboration made the product the best it could be.
More Ai Weiwei Quotes
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Even though everybody who looked at me would call me a Chinese artist, that’s the 1980s. New York in the ’80s was not so interesting.
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[Cultural departments] don’t care about culture. Maybe they’re the furthest from the people who understand culture.
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I wouldn’t say I’ve become more radical: I was born radical.
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The importance of elections, transparency, legal procedures, an independent army, and the judicial system is not regarded as highly in China. These core values are the most important evidence of the health of a society, quality of life, and security.
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No state or society can claim to have established human rights once and for all.
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These are nonviolent people who have lost their freedom simply because they expressed their ideas….In truth, they are heroes of our time.
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After I came back [to China], there was still a long period of time when I felt I had nothing to do.
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Democracy, material wealth, and universal education are the soil upon which modernism exists.
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I think I’m just a traveler. When you walk across a river and there’s no bridge, you build one. I’m used to having to deal with Chinese Communist ideology.
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[Cultural department] understand nothing but bureaucratic daily affairs. They don’t care about culture.
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Everyone thinks the Chinese government selected me. Never ever. I was selected by Herzog and de Meuron.
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I also doubt a man can give really clear reasons for anything.
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I saw [Allen Ginsberg] more as an old man who liked poetry and who had a lot of physical and emotional problems. We liked our time together.
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Mass production is nothing new. Weren’t cathedrals built through mass production? The pyramids?
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Man has a tendency to try to give clear reasons to be rational, but often you can see how all those reasons are not convincing and turn out to be a big nonsense.
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A society is healthy only when it allows its members to discuss their thoughts openly. This is also the only way that a society can gather consensus, let everyone express his or her wish, and foster creativity.
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To call yourself a Chinese artist or woman artist or African artist reflects a certain kind of condition. To me, that is not necessary.
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Every day I’m learning something new from the practice. It’s very rewarding.
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It is to wonder about the world, to understand the nature of people and, most importantly, to be shared with another, old or young, known or unknown.
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I never really read Allen Ginsberg poetry, even though I have a book he gave me.
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There are many cases and layers of racist behavior in the US – from police treatment to the issues of education and job opportunities. In America, however, such cases are being discussed publically.
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A clear understanding of such differences will help the rest of the world understand China and all that is happening to the nation.
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It’s like the mountains, the ocean and the rivers. It has its own geological forms. Societies cannot be flat. But during change, human rights, human dignity and free speech have to be protected. Otherwise, we’ll be going backward.
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Of course, there [in China] has to be chaos. It has to be crazy, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong about it except this government, which is really incapable of doing anything meaningful.
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I curated this show [Shanghai Biennale ], I was by no means trying to shock people or be controversial.
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As a person, I was born to give out my opinions. By giving out my opinions, I realize who I am.
AI WEIWEI