I lived there [ in New York City] as an artist, but never as a Chinese artist.
AI WEIWEIThere’s no such thing as “fixed” culture. China is also becoming more global. Its problems are becoming international problems, becoming German problems, becoming American problems.
More Ai Weiwei Quotes
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Civilization has evolved toward more acceptance, understanding and tolerance of global thinking. If we accept differences, our creativity booms. It makes life much more colorful.
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Being an artist is more of a mindset, a way of seeing things; it is no longer so much about producing something.
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Overturning police cars is a super-intense workout. It’s probably the only sport I enjoy.
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At the moment about 350,000 students return to China from abroad each year – 350,000 young and educated people. I know about them because they know me and often ask me in the street if they can take a selfie with me.
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I have always stated I designed the stadium as a toilet seat.
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The museums used to be exhibition halls for government propaganda, and now every city wants to build a museum.
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We literally lived underground. We dug a hole and lived there for years. My father cleaned public toilets, even though he was a highly respected poet.
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I think to deal with the situation like human crisis, 65 million people being displaced, lost their home, and with such human tragedy, has to make every level of society to be conscious and to be alert about the situation.
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A historical property has morals and ethics of the society that created it and it can be revived. What I mean is that we can discover new possibilities from the process of dismantling, transforming, and recreating.
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Life is much more interesting when you make a little bit of effort.
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I think the government regrets having Sina Weibo, but they cannot shut it down. That would definitely be suicidal.
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The society was so different [in China] – it was a feudalistic society. It didn’t come to a point of industrial revolution until twenty years ago.
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Liberty is about our rights to question everything.
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I deal with students every day – from China, Germany, the United States, Hong Kong and Taiwan. And I’ve noticed that the Chinese students are the least trained in having a sense of aesthetics.
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If you don’t act, the danger becomes stronger.
AI WEIWEI