I think it’s a responsibility for any artist to protect freedom of expression and to use any way to extend this power.
AI WEIWEIThese are nonviolent people who have lost their freedom simply because they expressed their ideas….In truth, they are heroes of our time.
More Ai Weiwei Quotes
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Choices after waking up: To be true or to lie? To take action or be brainwashed? To be free or be jailed?
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If a nation cannot face its past, it has no future.
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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 is to wonder about the world, to understand the nature of people and, most importantly, to be shared with another, old or young, known or unknown.
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I don’t want the next generation to fight the same fight as I did.
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This so-called fame or being better off doesn’t really attract me at all.
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The relationship between the Chinese government and me is like a Cold War.
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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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It also makes humanity much more safe. If we see pureness somewhere as something to be desired, the trouble starts.
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Your own acts tell the world who you are and what kind of society you think it should be.
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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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If my art has nothing to do with people’s pain and sorrow, what is ‘art’ for?
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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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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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For years, I refused to go to any openings, not even my own.
AI WEIWEI