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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

It’s very essential values that we all have to protect. But in Chinese society, people are giving up on protecting these values.
AI WEIWEI

Country Essential Giving People Protect Protecting Society Value
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.
AI WEIWEI

Censorship Government Last Party Stem Strong Year
A nation like China has become one of the biggest production fields for exporting cheap labor, which also re-questions our history and past, re-questions human desire, and the human illusions of the past.
AI WEIWEI

Biggest Cheap Country Desire Exporting Field Labor Past Production
Every day I’m learning something new from the practice. It’s very rewarding.
AI WEIWEI

Learning New Practice Rewarding Something
I will bring 1,001 Chinese to participate as my artwork there – any Chinese who is a Chinese passport holder and over eighteen years old could apply through my blog.
AI WEIWEI

Apply Artwork Blog Country Participated Passport
If my art has nothing to do with people’s pain and sorrow, what is ‘art’ for?
AI WEIWEI

Art Nothing Pain People Sorrow
I curated this show [Shanghai Biennale ], I was by no means trying to shock people or be controversial.
AI WEIWEI

Controversial Curated Mean People Shock Trying
The so-called culture nowadays is only a fake one with a superficial front. It is an empty lie.
AI WEIWEI

Culture Empty Fake Lie Lying Nowadays
I think you can give meaning to any condition; you can be poor or unsuccessful or be so-called successful. But I don’t think that it would give an individual human being a better condition.
AI WEIWEI

Condition Giving Meaning Poor Successful Thinking Unsuccessful
[Shanghai Biennale] has been my attitude for as long as I’ve been practicing art and other cultural-related activities.
AI WEIWEI

Art Attitude Culture Long Practicing Related
A 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.
AI WEIWEI

Always Obstacles Question Spending Thinking Time
Even if I have hundreds of things to do, the disconnected feeling is still there because it is very hard to find a real purpose of life.
AI WEIWEI

Disconnected Do Feeling Find Hard Hundred Purpose Real Still Thing Very
To call yourself a Chinese artist or woman artist or African artist reflects a certain kind of condition. To me, that is not necessary.
AI WEIWEI

Artist Call Certain Chinese Condition Country Kind Reflect Yourself
Even if there have been setbacks during these past years, China is changing. China’s society is opening.
AI WEIWEI

Changing Country Opening Past Society Year
These folks are creative and ironic, and the government can ultimately not control what is going on in their heads.
AI WEIWEI

Control Creative Folk Government Head Ironic Ultimately
I think Allen [Ginsberg] was a person who’s like a child.
AI WEIWEI

Child Children Ginsberg Person Thinking

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.

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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.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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