I think it’s a responsibility for any artist to protect freedom of expression and to use any way to extend this power.
AI WEIWEIYou only have temporary curiosity, amusement, and challenges, but that does not necessarily mean you are really convinced that it’s necessary or that it’s not even worth to do it.
More Ai Weiwei Quotes
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I think to deal with the situation like human crisis, 65 million people being displaced, lost their home, and with such human tragedy, has to make every level of society to be conscious and to be alert about the situation.
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A society is healthy only when it allows its members to discuss their thoughts openly. This is also the only way that a society can gather consensus, let everyone express his or her wish, and foster creativity.
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You know about the fantasies related to the classics, but there is no real discussion about today’s life and no discussion of the real conditions – which is really sickening.
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I deal with students every day – from China, Germany, the United States, Hong Kong and Taiwan. And I’ve noticed that the Chinese students are the least trained in having a sense of aesthetics.
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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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I curated this show [Shanghai Biennale ], I was by no means trying to shock people or be controversial.
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Maybe being powerful means to be fragile.
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If we all say the same thing, then I think the government has to listen. But because no one is saying it, I become singled out, even though what I’m saying is common sense.
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The freedom of speech is an important yardstick for a society’s level of civilization.
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I’m doing quite a few things now. In one day, I will go to Kassel, Germany, for a documentary project I’ve been preparing for half a year.
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Hopefully, other successes aren’t like me. It carries much more meaning to other people; my success story is irrelevant. It doesn’t make any sense.
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Civilization has evolved toward more acceptance, understanding and tolerance of global thinking. If we accept differences, our creativity booms. It makes life much more colorful.
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I don’t personally feel any association with a kind of culture related to state, or culture related to power, which I think is always disgusting.
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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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If my art has nothing to do with people’s pain and sorrow, what is ‘art’ for?
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