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.
AI WEIWEIThe leadership knows that you cannot solve the issues of China’s future with the means of the past. The demographic consequences of the one-child policy, the build-up of the welfare state.
More Ai Weiwei Quotes
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Each year, more people want to become artists.
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They lack any ability to sense what is beautiful or what is proper. They can be learned and skillful, but they lack the ability to make their own free judgment. It is really sad to see young adults of 20, 25 years who were never taught to make their own decisions.
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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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Nothing is clear-cut. Perhaps I’ll find my way – or get totally lost.
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The jobs for 7 million university graduates every year, the immense corruption: Even some Western governments would have to scramble to find solutions to such problems.
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Through my work and ways of expression, I strive to engage in dialogue with the society that I am living in.
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I spent a lot of time standing on street corners [of New York City] talking to local residents. I spent time in bookstores and galleries. But most of the time, I really did not have much to do.
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I grew up in a desert, which has no kind of imagination.
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The leadership knows that you cannot solve the issues of China’s future with the means of the past. The demographic consequences of the one-child policy, the build-up of the welfare state.
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They very often just try to cope with their own election, their own popularity, solving the problem or selling the ideas to meet their own voters. By doing that, it creates a great imbalance in terms of making deals or treaty or all those things.
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You need a purpose to express yourself, but that expression is its own purpose.
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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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Life is never guaranteed to be safe, so we better use it while we are still in good condition.
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People have been longing for this moment, because it symbolises a turning point in China’s relationship with the outside world.
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Once you’ve tasted freedom, it stays in your heart and no one can take it. Then, you can be more powerful than a whole country.
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