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Freedom of speech implies the world isn’t defined. It is meaningful when people are allowed to see the world their way.

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
Defined
Allowed
Speech
Freedom
Way
World
People
Implies
Meaningful

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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We have to give our opinion, we have to say something, or we are a part of it. As an artist I am forced to say something.
Ai Weiwei
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If you just turn to your paper or television each day, there are thousands of stories that are much more shocking than the gallery artworks.
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...photographs are facts, but not necessarily true... The present always surpasses the past, and the future will not care about today.
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To work in architecture you are so much involved with society, with politics, with bureaucrats. It's a very complicated process to do large projects. You start to see the society, how it functions, how it works. Then you have a lot of criticism about how it works.
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Historically, China is not a nation of sportsmen. We traditionally put more emphasis on being close to nature than pushing endlessly to excel. A philosophy that values tranquil contemplation of the landscape cannot easily be adapted to the Olympic slogan of 'higher, stronger, faster.'
Ai Weiwei
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For years, I refused to go to any openings, not even my own.
Ai Weiwei
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We should use this public sphere and redefine - beyond China's borders - what a government is allowed to do, where its powers end and where the realm of a citizen's privacy begins.
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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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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.
Ai Weiwei
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The misconception of totalitarianism is that freedom can be imprisoned. This is not the case. When you constrain freedom, freedom will take flight and land on a windowsill.
Ai Weiwei
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It's always the rich and there's plenty to waste, yet still China has a lot of people living in very spare, poor conditions.
Ai Weiwei
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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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If people are being abused or even killed during an arrest, this is highly disturbing.
Ai Weiwei
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Each year, more people want to become artists.
Ai Weiwei
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In my life, I often make so-called major decisions by very quick, immediate responses.
Ai Weiwei
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Everyone of us is a potential convict.
Ai Weiwei
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Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it. I don’t feel that much anger. I equally have a lot of joy.
Ai Weiwei
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If it's possible, I will have some noodles in the morning and start talking to people, start to think about a few things in my head - the project or a few ideas which are not finished or if there are possible directions and what will lead into another game. It's always like setting up some kind of game you can continuously play.
Ai Weiwei
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Now many enterprises are made by individuals, so the attitude has started to change.
Ai Weiwei
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I don't think there is a distinct change, because in the West I'm not a person who can serve his purpose.
Ai Weiwei