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If there is no free speech, every single life has lived in vain

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
Speech
Single
Free
Every
Life
Vain
Lived

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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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.
Ai Weiwei
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New York has given me a lot, but I still don't consider it home.
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At the moment about 350,000 students return to China from abroad each year - 350,000 young and educated people. I know about them because they know me and often ask me in the street if they can take a selfie with me. These folks are creative and ironic, and the government can ultimately not control what is going on in their heads.
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Warhol influenced me because of his writing. If I had never read his writings and interviews, I would never have understood his work.
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Chinese government is very clearly losing power in every aspect, but trying to fix up all the problems or potential problems.
Ai Weiwei
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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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[Museums] all belongs to the cultural department, which is the biggest cultural department in the world.
Ai Weiwei
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If there's the right condition, I always want to express the concept or ideas in a very independent way.
Ai Weiwei
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A small act is worth a million thoughts.
Ai Weiwei
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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.
Ai Weiwei
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For all the tough talk about China during the presidential debates, Romney and Obama evaded any mention of China's suspect human rights record, corruption, and rule of law. By not tackling these controversial topics, the candidates are protecting a strategic partnership with China at the expense of essential human values and beliefs.
Ai Weiwei
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I can still wake up the next day and feel that there's something that needs to be done, which always amuses me.
Ai Weiwei
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I think the pearls - one is a necklace, and another you have five hundred pounds of pearls, which may be one million pearls in a bowl - really show a kind of [society] condition.
Ai Weiwei
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Creativity is the power to act.
Ai Weiwei
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Cities really are mental conditions. Beijing is a nightmare. A constant nightmare.
Ai Weiwei
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I often feel more disgust than pride about this kind of success. So there's no regret whatsoever.
Ai Weiwei
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My definition of art has always been the same. It is about freedom of expression, a new way of communication. It is never about exhibiting in museums or about hanging it on the wall.
Ai Weiwei
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I never had secure, belonging feelings with this society [in China].
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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Even if there have been setbacks during these past years, China is changing. China's society is opening.
Ai Weiwei