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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.

Ai Weiwei

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Ai Weiwei
Age: 67
Born: 1957
Born: May 18
Architect
Consultant
Contemporary Artist
Designer
Film Director
Human Rights Activist
Painter
Photographer
Sculptor
Social Activist
Peking
Wei-wei Ai
Weiwei Ai
Ai Wei Wei
Today
Obsessed
Life
Asking
People
Citizens
Healthy
Forever
Call
Chance
Accountability
Happy
Questioning

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China has a rich history that has spanned millennia. It consists of the histories of many nations and regions.
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I never think any place is better than others.
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There's no single artwork I even want to mention or that I can even really think about it to have any feeling, to be proud of it.
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China partially wants to become part of the world. By hosting the Olympics and the Expo, they made a big effort to tell people: Look, we are the same. They want to be accepted by the international community.
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Overturning police cars is a super-intense workout. It’s probably the only sport I enjoy.
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As a person, I was born to give out my opinions. By giving out my opinions, I realize who I am. As long as I can communicate, I'm not so lonely. If I cannot travel, or do art, or have company, if they take away all my belongings, it doesn't matter at all.
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Mass production is nothing new. Weren't cathedrals built through mass production? The pyramids?... Paintings can be painted with the left hand, the right hand, someone else's hand, or many people's hands. The scale of production is irrelevant to its content.
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The whole attitude of society has become much more open and realistic. They realize that the only way to make a more democratic and free society is to let different opinions come out.
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The so-called culture nowadays is only a fake one with a superficial front. It is an empty lie.
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My work is always a ready-made... cultural, political, or social, and also it could be art - to make people re-look at what we have done, its original position, to create new possibilities.
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You can never know what is and what is not powerful, but you can always find out what the powerful people are scared of. 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 always want people to be confused, to be shocked or realize something later.
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Liberty is about our rights to question everything.
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The freedom of speech is an important yardstick for a society's level of civilization.
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If civil society has nobody who protects the law, then what kind of society is that?
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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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No matter what happens, nothing can prevent the historical process by which society demands freedom and democracy.
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If artists cannot speak up for human dignity or rights, then who else will do it?
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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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