You have so many museums in the West, and so many shows, you need somebody to show the work, otherwise it’s empty.
AI WEIWEIChoices after waking up: To be true or to lie? To take action or be brainwashed? To be free or be jailed?
More Ai Weiwei Quotes
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I don’t think I was very structured in that society and I don’t really believe in personal success, which most Americans believe in.
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China didn’t want to lose the cutting edge of technology. So the idea of having a Sina Weibo was an attempt to compete with Twitter. However, it has no soul – which is freedom of expression. Nevertheless,
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There isn’t a single Chinese university that can invite me to give a talk. Even though I know there are many students who would like to hear what I have to say.
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The importance of elections, transparency, legal procedures, an independent army, and the judicial system is not regarded as highly in China. These core values are the most important evidence of the health of a society, quality of life, and security.
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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.
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There are many cases and layers of racist behavior in the US – from police treatment to the issues of education and job opportunities. In America, however, such cases are being discussed publically.
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It’s the place they take you before they give you over to the judicial system. You stay there for a year or two and they make you really suffer to confess everything.
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If artists cannot speak up for human dignity or rights, then who else will do it?
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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’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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Even today the borders they’re seeing the physical borders are very different from the political borders. Because all those powers are so connected, and you cannot even see whose interest in what move.
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Chinese government is very clearly losing power in every aspect, but trying to fix up all the problems or potential problems.
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It is not an easy job to govern China, I am aware of that. There are crises and emergencies all the time, we might not even be aware of some. But I am afraid we’ll have to wait and observe precisely what the government is up to.
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I’m totally independent. I don’t bear any responsibility to any system.
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For years, I refused to go to any openings, not even my own.
AI WEIWEI