I call on people to be ‘obsessed citizens,’ forever questioning and asking for accountability. That’s the only chance we have today of a healthy and happy life.
The [China] government has improved in the last years. Of course, the structure is still the same; there’s still a one-party system and strong censorship.
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.
For artists and intellectuals today, what is most needed is to be clear about social responsibility, because that is what most people automatically give up. Just to protect yourself as an individual is very political.
I think the pearls – one is a necklace, and another you have five hundred pounds of pearls, which may be one million pearls in a bowl – really show a kind of [society] condition.
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.
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.
I was in the most restricted prison in China, the most tough. The design of the prison is modeled for internal crimes of the Communist party, so it’s like a mafia family’s law. It’s independent to the law this nation openly applies.
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.
Freedom of expression is a very essential condition for me to make any art. Also, it is an essential value for my life. I have to protect this right and also to fight for the possibility.
![Ai Weiwei Quote - The [China] government has improved in the last years. Of course, the structure is still the same; there’s still a one-party system and strong censorship.](https://minimalistquotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/the-china-government-has-improved-in-the-last-year-683x1024.jpg)
![Ai Weiwei Quote - I lived there [ in New York City] as an artist, but never as a Chinese artist.](https://minimalistquotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/i-lived-there-in-new-york-city-as-an-artist-but-ne-683x1024.jpg)
![Ai Weiwei Quote - I think the pearls – one is a necklace, and another you have five hundred pounds of pearls, which may be one million pearls in a bowl – really show a kind of [society] condition.](https://minimalistquotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/i-think-the-pearls-one-is-a-necklace-and-another-y-683x1024.jpg)
