I have people working together, doing different things: architecture, art installation, photography, publishing, and curatorial works and design.
AI WEIWEISomehow, we [ Tan Dun and director Chen Kaige] were all privileged at the time; we could be outside of China. But at the moment, we had no sense of what the future was going to be like.
More Ai Weiwei Quotes
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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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I’m just bringing them to Kassel to see the art show, and pay their room and board.
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We have to give our opinion, we have to say something, or we are a part of it. As an artist I am forced to say something.
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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 always want to design a frame that’s open to everyone. I don’t see art as a secret code.
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Democracy, material wealth, and universal education are the soil upon which modernism exists.
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If civil society has nobody who protects the law, then what kind of society is that?
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In this kind of dictatorship, in this kind of totalitarian society, it is easy to make deals that you cannot make in a democratic society.
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It also makes humanity much more safe. If we see pureness somewhere as something to be desired, the trouble starts.
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The tragic reality of today is reflected in the true plight of our spiritual existence. We are spineless and cannot stand straight.
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The relationship between the Chinese government and me is like a Cold War.
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I think art certainly is the vehicle for us to develop any new ideas, to be creative, to extend our imagination, to change the current conditions.
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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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It’s like the mountains, the ocean and the rivers. It has its own geological forms. Societies cannot be flat. But during change, human rights, human dignity and free speech have to be protected. Otherwise, we’ll be going backward.
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For those actors and directors who produce films which are always about the old kingdom or about heroes.
AI WEIWEI