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.
AI WEIWEI[Museums] all belongs to the cultural department, which is the biggest cultural department in the world.
More Ai Weiwei Quotes
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Of course, there [in China] has to be chaos. It has to be crazy, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong about it except this government, which is really incapable of doing anything meaningful.
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I don’t belong to a working system. They only select people if you belong to one so you can be controlled.
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Everyone of us is a potential convict.
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[Therefore] holding a trial outside the court. I think that is fairness, that is justice, that is a civil society. Otherwise call it an evil society because everything is hidden.
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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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Man has a tendency to try to give clear reasons to be rational, but often you can see how all those reasons are not convincing and turn out to be a big nonsense.
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If people are being abused or even killed during an arrest, this is highly disturbing.
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Freedom of expression is a very essential condition for me to make any art. Also, it is an essential value for my life. I have to protect this right and also to fight for the possibility.
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Choices after waking up: To be true or to lie? To take action or be brainwashed? To be free or be jailed?
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[Cultural department] understand nothing but bureaucratic daily affairs. They don’t care about culture.
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I have to respect my life, and free expression is part of my life. I can never really silence myself.
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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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After I came back [to China], there was still a long period of time when I felt I had nothing to do.
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I want people to see their own power.
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The purpose of art is the fight for freedom.
AI WEIWEI