I spend a lot of time talking to journalists.
AI WEIWEIIt also makes humanity much more safe. If we see pureness somewhere as something to be desired, the trouble starts.
More Ai Weiwei Quotes
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The whole attitude of society has become much more open and realistic. They realize that the only way to make a more democratic and free society is to let different opinions come out.
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If people are being abused or even killed during an arrest, this is highly disturbing.
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I think everybody deserves freedom. Freedom is such an abstract word, but it’s all we need.
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You’re still being looked at as somebody who – it’s a very complicated issue.
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It’s really rubbish that some kind of “technical” learning means you will be a better person because you know this skill better.
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No state or society can claim to have established human rights once and for all.
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I also have to speak out for people around me who are afraid, who think it is not worth it or who have totally given up hope. So I want to set an example: you can do it and this is OK, to speak out.
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Of course, people will call you an old artist or young artist, which is just a character of you.
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[Cultural department] understand nothing but bureaucratic daily affairs. They don’t care about culture.
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To express yourself needs a reason, but expressing yourself is the reason.
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As a human being, member of society, you must clearly state your mind. It’s a responsibility. It is the way you identify yourself otherwise you don’t know who you are and why you are here.
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I think U.S. and China is a big opportunity, to be seen as partner or some kind of strategic partner maybe. But those kind of powers have a way of getting too big, then we’ll have competition.
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The fantasy we had with pearls was always so luxurious and unique with a kind of rareness.
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Maybe [success] is because I’m in China and I’m more open. Maybe it’s my independent behavior, or because I participated in certain projects. I have no idea.
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In the end, I think, the state’s rigidity is a function of its own insecurity, its indecisiveness.
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Creativity is the power to reject the past, to change the status quo, and to seek new potential. Simply put, aside from using one’s imagination – perhaps more importantly – creativity is the power to act.
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I grew up in a desert, which has no kind of imagination.
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Without freedom of speech, there is no modern world, just a barbaric one.
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The whole Chinese system – not just the political leadership, the military too, the whole power structure, our education system, the whole of society – is suffering from being cut off from the free flow of information.
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I don’t think [price] reflects if the work is good or bad.A good artist shouldn’t be nervous about that.
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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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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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The misconception of totalitarianism is that freedom can be imprisoned. This is not the case. When you constrain freedom, freedom will take flight and land on a windowsill.
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These are nonviolent people who have lost their freedom simply because they expressed their ideas….In truth, they are heroes of our time.
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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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It [success] is really by mistake.
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