China restricts the society’s freedom of speech. The Communist Party imposes these limits because it lacks confidence towards the future and has no ideals.
AI WEIWEIA 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.
More Ai Weiwei Quotes
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The relationship between the Chinese government and me is like a Cold War.
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By participating in the society we live in, we understand our conditions and the way we relate to the world.
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It’s very essential values that we all have to protect. But in Chinese society, people are giving up on protecting these values.
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Every day I’m learning something new from the practice. It’s very rewarding.
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Had I to create a name for these times, I’d say it is the age of craziness
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At the moment about 350,000 students return to China from abroad each year – 350,000 young and educated people. I know about them because they know me and often ask me in the street if they can take a selfie with me.
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I think it’s a responsibility for any artist to protect freedom of expression and to use any way to extend this power.
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If a master, a wise and experienced man, wields a great weapon, that’s beautiful. He can serve peace with it. But if someone’s emotions are imbalanced, even if he has the best equipment,
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I don’t believe in a sense of home.
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I lived there [ in New York City] as an artist, but never as a Chinese artist.
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The purpose of art is the fight for freedom.
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China hasn’t only existed for one day. Now, the whole nation has become richer and it’s become a problem. The problem is universal. The factor is big. Everybody has to rethink the balance of the world and the whole landscape.
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If a nation cannot face its past, it has no future.
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I 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.
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The society was so different [in China] – it was a feudalistic society. It didn’t come to a point of industrial revolution until twenty years ago.
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Many people are going to use [Beijing National Stadium], which makes it more meaningful. If we don’t design it, somebody else has to design it.
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For years, I refused to go to any openings, not even my own.
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I think by not letting young people be fully informed, how can they have energy and passion and the right picture of the world? I think that’s the true crime.
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Everything is art. Everything is politics.
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Everything is selected by the central government without good judgment or an understanding of culture to make it really safe. They will become nobody to maintain their power and be raised to the next higher level.
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A clear understanding of such differences will help the rest of the world understand China and all that is happening to the nation.
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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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I curated this show [Shanghai Biennale ], I was by no means trying to shock people or be controversial.
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I don’t think China should care if this crazy old guy should have a show here or not.
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You don’t have to march on Tiananmen, but you do have to be clear-minded, to find your own means of expression.
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I spend a lot of time talking to journalists.
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