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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.

Ai Weiwei

We should use this public sphere and redefine – beyond China’s borders – what a government is allowed to do, where its powers end and where the realm of a citizen’s privacy begins.
AI WEIWEI

Allowed Border Country Government Public Redefine Sphere
I never really read Allen Ginsberg poetry, even though I have a book he gave me.
AI WEIWEI

Across Book Bridge Ginsberg Having Traveler Walk
I never felt like a Chinese citizen because I was pushed away at a very young age. My father, a writer, was a national enemy of the Communist Party. He was forbidden to write for 20 years.
AI WEIWEI

Citizen Father Party Pushed Writer Writing Young
To call yourself a Chinese artist or woman artist or African artist reflects a certain kind of condition. To me, that is not necessary.
AI WEIWEI

Artist Call Certain Chinese Condition Country Kind Reflect Yourself
I never had a sense of home.
AI WEIWEI

Home Sense
I hope that my work expresses my worldview and encourages people to exchange ideas.
AI WEIWEI

Encourage Expressed Idea People Worldview
Selling high or low doesn’t mean anything. It has to do purely with the market.
AI WEIWEI

Anything High Market Mean Purely Selling
We are living in a popular culture where everything is overexposed.
AI WEIWEI

Culture Everything Overexposed Popular Living
If my art has nothing to do with people’s pain and sorrow, what is ‘art’ for?
AI WEIWEI

Art Nothing Pain People Sorrow
The deadly weapon against totalitarian society is openness – doing everything very openly on the Internet, letting people know every detail, any little development. Once it is out there, everybody can make their own judgement.
AI WEIWEI

Deadly Everything Evil Internet Letting Openness People Thinking Weapon
I came back [to Beijing ] because that’s the only time I had an excuse to come back, or otherwise I would never have a reason to come back.
AI WEIWEI

Back Beijing Excuse Otherwise Reason Time
The only way to avoid misunderstanding, war and bloodshed is to defend freedom of expression and to communicate with sincerity, concern and good intentions.
AI WEIWEI

Avoid Belief Carrodes Denies Ignorant Mankind Minded Misunderstanding Narrow Warmth
It became like a symbolic thing, to be “an artist.” After Duchamp, I realized that being an artist is more about a lifestyle and attitude than producing some product.
AI WEIWEI

Artist Attitude Lifestyle More Producing Realized Symbolic Thing
Your own acts tell the world who you are and what kind of society you think it should be.
AI WEIWEI

Act Change Chinese Kind Society Tell Thinking World
I never think any place is better than others.
AI WEIWEI

Better Place Think Thinking
A lot of the time [in the U.S.], I was thinking about how spending time is always questionable or is always the biggest obstacle in my life.
AI WEIWEI

Always Obstacles Question Spending Thinking Time

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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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.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Ai Weiwei Quotes