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I don't believe in the so-called Olympic spirit. I speak from personal experience. When China hosted the Games, it failed to include the people. The event was constructed without regard for their joy.

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
Believe
Personal
Constructed
People
Joy
Olympic
Called
Include
Games
Failed
Speak
Event
Experience
China
Spirit
Regard
Without
Events
Hosted

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I am very much interested in the so-called useless object. I mean, it takes perfect craftsmanship, beautiful material carefully measured and crafted, but at the same time it’s really useless.
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If a nation cannot face its past, it has no future.
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China has not established the rule of law and if there is a power above the law there is no social justice. Everybody can be subjected to harm. I'm just a citizen: my life is equal in value to any other. But I'm thankful that when I lost my freedom so many people shared feelings and put such touching effort into helping me.
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I remember one little rainy day I went searching for this apartment and I saw so many people standing on a stoop on the corner in the rain. Later I realized, that was drug traffic. They were all buying drugs.
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Art should live in the heart of the people. Ordinary people should have the same ability to understand art as anybody else. I don't think art is elite or mysterious.
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Anyone fighting for freedom does not want to totally lose their freedom.
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For years, I refused to go to any openings, not even my own.
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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.
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I think by not letting young people be fully informed, how can they have energy and passion and the right picture of the world? I think that's the true crime.
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New York is a city where you're so alone, you're an individual, you can disappear. You can make something happen. But it's very different to make something happen in the art world.
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The rest of the world understands little about China's changes and the possibilities and crises that come with them.
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Measuring national prestige by gold medals is like using Viagra to judge the potency of a man.
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I don't personally feel any association with a kind of culture related to state, or culture related to power, which I think is always disgusting.
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A nation that has no music and no fairytales is a tragedy.
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Life is never guaranteed to be safe, so we better use it while we are still in good condition.
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