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I wouldn’t say I’ve become more radical: I was born radical.

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
Radical
Wouldn
Born
Become

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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I think optimism is whether you are still exhilarated by life, whether you are curious, whether you still believe there is possibility.
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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.
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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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Any politician who respects China's government should tell it openly what is in his heart. It is disrespectful to keep quiet about such issues - both vis-a-vis the government and the people concerned.
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I don't like China. Even today, I still feel I have no emotional relations with this place.
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For me, it is OK as long as I can breathe, as long as my heart is pumping, as long as I can express myself.
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I came back [to Beijing ] because that's the only time I had an excuse to come back, or otherwise I would never have a reason to come back.
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For years, I refused to go to any openings, not even my own.
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I also doubt a man can give really clear reasons for anything.
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This so-called fame or being better off doesn't really attract me at all.
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Only with the Internet can a peasant I have never met hear my voice and I can learn what's on his mind. A fairy tale has come true.
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I think everybody deserves freedom. Freedom is such an abstract word, but it's all we need.
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Recently I danced in a video spoof of the song 'Gangnam Style,' and it was quickly banned across multiple Chinese online video platforms. But the story still traveled all over the world, carried in hundreds of international media reports.
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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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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.
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Art needs to stand for something.
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Mass production is nothing new. Weren't cathedrals built through mass production? The pyramids?... Paintings can be painted with the left hand, the right hand, someone else's hand, or many people's hands. The scale of production is irrelevant to its content.
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I have to respect my life, and free expression is part of my life. I can never really silence myself.
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Beijing is constructing a 100,000 m2 modern art museum, yet it will not feature any of my work.
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Behind every political deal in this country, the first casualties are always the ordinary people, who are barely treated as human.
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