My definition of art has always been the same. It is about freedom of expression, a new way of communication. It is never about exhibiting in museums or about hanging it on the wall.
That’s why I always question this sense. The feeling of home really requires a lot of trust. It requires you to identify with it, which I always find myself very contradictory to.
Whenever there is injustice, there is tension. But in China it is very hard to release your anger unless you burn yourself or you jump from a bridge. In a society where there is no freedom of the press, it is difficult for victims to be noticed.
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.
I think the pearls – one is a necklace, and another you have five hundred pounds of pearls, which may be one million pearls in a bowl – really show a kind of [society] condition.
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.
Any individual can contribute its own belief. And our society or even our government are made by the people. The people would have the final voice, but it requires each individual to act. If we don’t act, then the result is very clear.
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 Quote - 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.](https://minimalistquotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/the-china-government-has-improved-in-the-last-year-683x1024.jpg)
![Ai Weiwei Quote - I think the pearls – one is a necklace, and another you have five hundred pounds of pearls, which may be one million pearls in a bowl – really show a kind of [society] condition.](https://minimalistquotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/i-think-the-pearls-one-is-a-necklace-and-another-y-683x1024.jpg)
![Ai Weiwei Quote - I lived there [ in New York City] as an artist, but never as a Chinese artist.](https://minimalistquotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/i-lived-there-in-new-york-city-as-an-artist-but-ne-683x1024.jpg)
