[Shanghai Biennale] has been my attitude for as long as I’ve been practicing art and other cultural-related activities.
AI WEIWEIIf you don’t act, the danger becomes stronger.
More Ai Weiwei Quotes
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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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I think art is a very important weapon to achieve human freedom
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Stupidity can win for a moment, but it can never really succeed because the nature of humans is to seek freedom. Rulers can delay that freedom, but they cannot stop it.
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To the media, I have become a symbolic figure, critical of China. According to the government, I am a dangerous threat.
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I’m totally independent. I don’t bear any responsibility to any system.
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I have to respect my life, and free expression is part of my life. I can never really silence myself.
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We should also leave behind discrimination, because it is narrow-minded and ignorant, denies contact and warmth; and corrodes mankind’s belief that we can better ourselves.
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Today, we jump into this globalization of the economy and the internet age.
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I don’t think China has professional museums – not in the past, present, or near future.
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Art 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.
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I also doubt a man can give really clear reasons for anything.
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Even if I have hundreds of things to do, the disconnected feeling is still there because it is very hard to find a real purpose of life.
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The American experience influenced my understanding of individuality, basic human rights, freedom of expression and the rights and responsibilities of citizens.
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[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.
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We grew up in a very material-lacking socialist society, but today China is a capitalist society. It’s very materialistic. It’s full of desire and luxury goods.
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As a total activity – I practice curating, art, architecture, writing, and publishing all together. I still act as a living creature.
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Every day I’m learning something new from the practice. It’s very rewarding.
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The fantasy we had with pearls was always so luxurious and unique with a kind of rareness.
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This so-called contemporary art is not a form, but a philosophy of society.
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Technology is a liberation. I think the information age probably is the best thing to happen to the human race in human evolution.
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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 think everybody deserves freedom. Freedom is such an abstract word, but it’s all we need.
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I think Donald Trump should cool down a little bit. To pay more attention to the history. To really understand what U.S.’s value is about. I think, as a president, those things you always have to ask.
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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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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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China hasn’t only existed for one day. Now, the whole nation has become richer and it’s become a problem. The problem is universal. The factor is big. Everybody has to rethink the balance of the world and the whole landscape.
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