This week, the world gathers in Beijing for the 2008 Olympic games. This is the extraordinary moment China has been dreaming of for 100 years.
AI WEIWEIThis week, the world gathers in Beijing for the 2008 Olympic games. This is the extraordinary moment China has been dreaming of for 100 years.
AI WEIWEIThe intention to separate art from politics is itself a very political intention.
AI WEIWEIWe 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.
AI WEIWEII call on people to be ‘obsessed citizens,’ forever questioning and asking for accountability. That’s the only chance we have today of a healthy and happy life.
AI WEIWEIIn this kind of dictatorship, in this kind of totalitarian society, it is easy to make deals that you cannot make in a democratic society.
AI WEIWEIWithout freedom of speech, there is no modern world, just a barbaric one.
AI WEIWEII think my stance and my way of life is my most important art.
AI WEIWEIThe whole attitude of society has become much more open and realistic. They realize that the only way to make a more democratic and free society is to let different opinions come out.
AI WEIWEICensorship is saying: “I’m the one who says the last sentence. Whatever you say, the conclusion is mine.” But the internet is like a tree that is growing.
AI WEIWEIYou have so many museums in the West, and so many shows, you need somebody to show the work, otherwise it’s empty.
AI WEIWEII have always stated I designed the stadium as a toilet seat.
AI WEIWEII loved New York — every inch of it. It was a little bit scary at that time, but still, the excitement was so strong — visually and intellectually. It was like a monster.
AI WEIWEII 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 WEIWEIIf you don’t act, the danger becomes stronger.
AI WEIWEII don’t personally feel any association with a kind of culture related to state, or culture related to power, which I think is always disgusting.
AI WEIWEIIt’s really rubbish that some kind of “technical” learning means you will be a better person because you know this skill better.
AI WEIWEI