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.
AI WEIWEI[Therefore] holding a trial outside the court. I think that is fairness, that is justice, that is a civil society. Otherwise call it an evil society because everything is hidden.
More Ai Weiwei Quotes
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I never had a sense of home.
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Today, the general masses in this society are in this political-social condition that really encourages people to become rich and become a star and be unique.
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I don’t think there is a distinct change, because in the West I’m not a person who can serve his purpose.
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If a nation cannot face its past, it has no future.
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We are not on – even just a step away from the most brutal and primitive crudity. To be very crude on those issues, which is always challenges and we always have to look at the situation like a mirror, to draw some understanding.
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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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During the days in detention, I thought most about the moon.
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Every day I’m learning something new from the practice. It’s very rewarding.
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If we all say the same thing, then I think the government has to listen. But because no one is saying it, I become singled out, even though what I’m saying is common sense.
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Through my work and ways of expression, I strive to engage in dialogue with the society that I am living in.
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I was an illegal alien for many, many years. I couldn’t move. If I moved I could not even get a visa back.
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It’s the place they take you before they give you over to the judicial system. You stay there for a year or two and they make you really suffer to confess everything.
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The jobs for 7 million university graduates every year, the immense corruption: Even some Western governments would have to scramble to find solutions to such problems.
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If there’s the right condition, I always want to express the concept or ideas in a very independent way.
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I’m just bringing them to Kassel to see the art show, and pay their room and board.
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What counts in the end is what the government does.
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Creativity is the power to act.
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I think of art as coming from daily life, daily experience. I think it’s very important not to have it become work for some kind of elite circle.
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The Internet is the best thing that ever happened to China. It turns us into individuals and also enables us to share our perceptions and feelings. It creates a culture of individualism and exchange even though the real society doesn’t promote it.
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Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it. I don’t feel that much anger. I equally have a lot of joy.
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Of course, most luxury goods in China are for corrupted officials and their relatives. And that made China become the biggest luxury-goods market.
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I don’t think China has professional museums – not in the past, present, or near future.
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Any politician who respects China’s government should tell it openly what is in his heart. It is disrespectful to keep quiet about such issues – both vis-a-vis the government and the people concerned.
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Liberty is about our rights to question everything.
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If artists cannot speak up for human dignity or rights, then who else will do it?
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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 WEIWEI