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China and the U.S. are two societies with very different attitudes towards opinion and criticism. In China, I am constantly under surveillance. Even my slightest, most innocuous move can - and often is - censored by Chinese authorities.

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
Moving
Towards
Innocuous
Often
Constantly
Censored
China
Authorities
Two
Criticism
Surveillance
Different
Authority
Slightest
Even
Move
Attitudes
Attitude
Societies
Opinion
Chinese

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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This week, the world gathers in Beijing for the 2008 Olympic games. This is the extraordinary moment China has been dreaming of for 100 years. People have been longing for this moment, because it symbolises a turning point in China's relationship with the outside world.
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I'm totally independent. I don't bear any responsibility to any system.
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Censorship is saying: I'm the one who says the last sentence. Whatever you say, the conclusion is mine. But the internet is like a tree that is growing. The people will always have the last word – even if someone has a very weak, quiet voice. Such power will collapse because of a whisper.
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Many people I know - writers, poets - they have all been sentenced not once but sometimes three times after they come out. They serve five or six years, come out another time, and then nine years. Come out again, 12 years. Only because they have a different opinion. They are innocent people, they have beautiful minds, beautiful hearts.
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Now many enterprises are made by individuals, so the attitude has started to change.
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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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Overturning police cars is a super-intense workout. It’s probably the only sport I enjoy.
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I don’t want the next generation to fight the same fight as I did.
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China's culture and history are closely related to my living environment. This country is my birthplace. It is also where I grew up. Its culture and history shape my relations with family, friends, society, and daily life.
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My musician friends are banned from playing concerts in China because they share the same views as I do. My name cannot appear on the web, because my opinion is different from the Party.
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Life is much more interesting when you make a little bit of effort.
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I think it’s a responsibility for any artist to protect freedom of expression and to use any way to extend this power.
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In a society like this there is no negotiation, no discussion, except to tell you that power can crush you any time they want — not only you, your whole family and all people like you.
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You're still being looked at as somebody who - it's a very complicated issue.
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The practice of photography is no longer a means for recording reality. Instead, it has become reality itself
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In my case, I was stuck there for quite a while. New York is large enough to be a very abstract city, so nobody cares.
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My angst and my insecurity reflect the state's angst and insecurity. The state is scared too.
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Dictatorship is a story about death of others who turn out to be you coincidently.
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Even though everybody who looked at me would call me a Chinese artist, that's the 1980s. New York in the '80s was not so interesting. I think it's quite narrow-minded. There wasn't much encouragement or opportunities for any artist - not just Chinese artists.
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I saw [Allen Ginsberg] more as an old man who liked poetry and who had a lot of physical and emotional problems. We liked our time together.
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