People have a tendency to become elite rather than to care about the general conditions of the society, which makes me sick. It’s an unbearable condition.
AI WEIWEIThe relationship between the Chinese government and me is like a Cold War.
More Ai Weiwei Quotes
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It’s not really an ideology, but a method of control. But China’s problems are not just China’s problems – they’re human problems. Humanity has always worked better when you see it as one.
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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.
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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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My definition of art has always been the same. It is about freedom of expression. I don’t think anybody can separate art from politics. The intention to separate [the two] is itself a very political intention.
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You can never know what is and what is not powerful, but you can always find out what the powerful people are scared of.
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The rest of the world understands little about China’s changes and the possibilities and crises that come with them.
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Destroy or build. Crazy or noncrazy. I’m not nostalgic about the old city. I don’t enjoy it that much.
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Today, the general masses in this society are in this political-social condition that really encourages people to become rich and become a star and be unique.
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I think I’m just a traveler. When you walk across a river and there’s no bridge, you build one. I’m used to having to deal with Chinese Communist ideology.
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I don’t think China has professional museums – not in the past, present, or near future.
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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.
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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 was an illegal alien for many, many years. I couldn’t move. If I moved I could not even get a visa back.
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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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To work in architecture you are so much involved with society, with politics, with bureaucrats. It’s a very complicated process to do large projects.
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