There isn’t a single Chinese university that can invite me to give a talk. Even though I know there are many students who would like to hear what I have to say.
AI WEIWEIArt should live in the heart of the people. Ordinary people should have the same ability to understand art as anybody else. I don’t think art is elite or mysterious.
More Ai Weiwei Quotes
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To give a price to an artwork, no matter how high or low, is always absurd. It’s not something that can be measured by money or by certain numbers.
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New York has given me a lot, but I still don’t consider it home.
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I never really read Allen Ginsberg poetry, even though I have a book he gave me.
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I don’t like China. Even today, I still feel I have no emotional relations with this place.
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I was in the most restricted prison in China, the most tough. The design of the prison is modeled for internal crimes of the Communist party, so it’s like a mafia family’s law. It’s independent to the law this nation openly applies.
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They lack any ability to sense what is beautiful or what is proper. They can be learned and skillful, but they lack the ability to make their own free judgment. It is really sad to see young adults of 20, 25 years who were never taught to make their own decisions.
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If there is no free speech, every single life has lived in vain
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The [China] government has improved in the last years. Of course, the structure is still the same; there’s still a one-party system and strong censorship.
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Self-censorship is insulting to the self. Timidity is a hopeless way forward.
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The so-called culture nowadays is only a fake one with a superficial front. It is an empty lie.
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I think U.S. and China is a big opportunity, to be seen as partner or some kind of strategic partner maybe. But those kind of powers have a way of getting too big, then we’ll have competition.
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I also doubt a man can give really clear reasons for anything.
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Creativity is the power to reject the past, to change the status quo, and to seek new potential. Simply put, aside from using one’s imagination – perhaps more importantly – creativity is the power to act.
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The Internet has established a public sphere and developed a pressure which the government can no longer ignore.
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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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Nowadays, China is experiencing the detrimental effects of such decisions. Its citizens have no creativity.
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Even if there have been setbacks during these past years, China is changing. China’s society is opening.
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For me, it is OK as long as I can breathe, as long as my heart is pumping, as long as I can express myself.
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The whole Chinese system – not just the political leadership, the military too, the whole power structure, our education system, the whole of society – is suffering from being cut off from the free flow of information.
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China didn’t want to lose the cutting edge of technology. So the idea of having a Sina Weibo was an attempt to compete with Twitter. However, it has no soul – which is freedom of expression. Nevertheless,
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For years, I refused to go to any openings, not even my own.
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Any individual can contribute its own belief. And our society or even our government are made by the people. The people would have the final voice, but it requires each individual to act. If we don’t act, then the result is very clear.
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A nation that has no music and no fairytales is a tragedy.
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We move so fast that memory is something we can only grasp
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We have to give our opinion, we have to say something, or we are a part of it. As an artist I am forced to say something.
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The Internet changes the structure of society all the time — this massiveness made of individuals.
AI WEIWEI