If people are being abused or even killed during an arrest, this is highly disturbing.
AI WEIWEITo the media, I have become a symbolic figure, critical of China. According to the government, I am a dangerous threat.
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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We grew up in a very material-lacking socialist society, but today China is a capitalist society. It’s very materialistic. It’s full of desire and luxury goods.
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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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This so-called fame or being better off doesn’t really attract me at all.
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A state like China looks so powerful, but they are so scared of the Internet, so the Internet is more powerful than them.
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I think optimism is whether you are still exhilarated by life, whether you are curious, whether you still believe there is possibility.
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There’s no such thing as “fixed” culture. China is also becoming more global. Its problems are becoming international problems, becoming German problems, becoming American problems.
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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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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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Warhol influenced me because of his writing. If I had never read his writings and interviews, I would never have understood his work.
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Even if there have been setbacks during these past years, China is changing. China’s society is opening.
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I spent a lot of time standing on street corners [of New York City] talking to local residents. I spent time in bookstores and galleries. But most of the time, I really did not have much to do.
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[Museums] all belongs to the cultural department, which is the biggest cultural department in the world.
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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.
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If I look at it, I would laugh. I don’t know how I became successful.
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For me, it is OK as long as I can breathe, as long as my heart is pumping, as long as I can express myself.
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The world is not changing if you don’t shoulder the burden of responsibility.
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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.
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If artists cannot speak up for human dignity or rights, then who else will do it?
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It [success] is really by mistake.
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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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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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The American experience influenced my understanding of individuality, basic human rights, freedom of expression and the rights and responsibilities of citizens.
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I always want people to be confused, to be shocked or realize something later.
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I came back [to Beijing ] because that’s the only time I had an excuse to come back, or otherwise I would never have a reason to come back.
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We are not on – even just a step away from the most brutal and primitive crudity. To be very crude on those issues, which is always challenges and we always have to look at the situation like a mirror, to draw some understanding.
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