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If Shakespeare were alive today, he might be writing on Twitter.

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
Twitter
Shakespeare
Alive
Today
Might
Writing

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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I think I'm just a traveler. When you walk across a river and there's no bridge, you build one. I'm used to having to deal with Chinese Communist ideology - it's not really an ideology, but a method of control. But China's problems are not just China's problems - they're human problems. Humanity has always worked better when you see it as one.
Ai Weiwei
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There are many cases and layers of racist behavior in the US - from police treatment to the issues of education and job opportunities. In America, however, such cases are being discussed publically.
Ai Weiwei
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Each year, more people want to become artists.
Ai Weiwei
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When human beings are scared and feel everything is exposed to the government, we will censor ourselves from free thinking. That's dangerous for human development.
Ai Weiwei
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In a society that restricts individual freedoms and violates human rights, anything that calls itself creative or independent is a pretence. It is impossible for a totalitarian society to create anything with passion and imagination.
Ai Weiwei
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In an environment without public platform nor protection, the individual is the most powerful and most responsible.
Ai Weiwei
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Warhol came from an ordinary family and he had a profound understanding about capitalism and material culture. He was probably one of the few Western artists - or artists from the United States - that could be considered a true product of his time and brought out that kind of spirit of the culture.
Ai Weiwei
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I’m an artist who is always looking for what is possible. I’m always looking to extend the boundaries.
Ai Weiwei
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This so-called contemporary art is not a form, but a philosophy of society.
Ai Weiwei
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If artists cannot speak up for human dignity or rights, then who else will do it?
Ai Weiwei
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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.
Ai Weiwei
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If my art has nothing to do with people's pain and sorrow, what is 'art' for?
Ai Weiwei
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A city is a place that can offer maximum freedom. Otherwise it’s incomplete.
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.
Ai Weiwei
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This world should be much more open and should be much more free, so the young people would have the chance to exercise the quality of their lives.
Ai Weiwei
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China is an old nation with a colourful history. Its booming economy has triggered an appetite and a curiosity around the world for its art and culture, one that continues to grow. I can, however, tell people that it is a show with no actor.
Ai Weiwei
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I don't belong to a working system. They only select people if you belong to one so you can be controlled.
Ai Weiwei
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The tragic reality of today is reflected in the true plight of our spiritual existence. We are spineless and cannot stand straight.
Ai Weiwei
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Somehow, we [ Tan Dun and director Chen Kaige] were all privileged at the time we could be outside of China. But at the moment, we had no sense of what the future was going to be like.
Ai Weiwei
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China didn't want to lose the cutting edge of technology. So the idea of having a Sina Weibo was an attempt to compete with Twitter. However, it has no soul - which is freedom of expression. Nevertheless, I think the government regrets having Sina Weibo, but they cannot shut it down. That would definitely be suicidal.
Ai Weiwei