Quote

If my art has nothing to do with people's pain and sorrow, what is 'art' for?

Ai Weiwei

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

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
Pain
Art
Nothing
People
Sorrow

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

Image
The [China] government has improved in the last years. Of course, the structure is still the same there's still a one-party system and strong censorship.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I think U.S. and China is a big opportunity, to be seen as partner or some kind of strategic partner maybe. But those kind of powers have a way of getting too big, then we'll have competition. And who is going to win the competition if U.S. cannot hold a strong ideology? And even the U.S. would've lost the ground to win.
Ai Weiwei
Image
What counts in the end is what the government does.
Ai Weiwei
Image
Art needs to stand for something.
Ai Weiwei
Image
Chinese citizens have never had the right to really express their opinions in the constitution it says you can, but in the real world it is more dangerous. In the west people think it's a right they're born with. Here it's a right given by the government, and one that's not really practised.
Ai Weiwei
Image
The biggest obstacle in interacting with China is the difference in perspectives about basic values. These include issues such as human rights, the concept of law and constitution.
Ai Weiwei
Image
These are nonviolent people who have lost their freedom simply because they expressed their ideas….In truth, they are heroes of our time.
Ai Weiwei
Image
Censorship is saying: I'm the one who says the last sentence. Whatever you say, the conclusion is mine. But the internet is like a tree that is growing. The people will always have the last word – even if someone has a very weak, quiet voice. Such power will collapse because of a whisper.
Ai Weiwei
Image
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
Image
Anyone fighting for freedom does not want to totally lose their freedom.
Ai Weiwei
Image
New York has given me a lot, but I still don't consider it home.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I think optimism is whether you are still exhilarated by life, whether you are curious, whether you still believe there is possibility.
Ai Weiwei
Image
We are living in a popular culture where everything is overexposed.
Ai Weiwei
Image
A society is healthy only when it allows its members to discuss their thoughts openly. This is also the only way that a society can gather consensus, let everyone express his or her wish, and foster creativity.
Ai Weiwei
Image
No outdoor sports can be more elegant than throwing stones at autocracy no melees can be more exciting than those in cyberspace.
Ai Weiwei
Image
Expressing oneself is like a drug. I'm so addicted to it.
Ai Weiwei
Image
Today, the general masses in this society are in this political-social condition that really encourages people to become rich and become a star and be unique.
Ai Weiwei
Image
Any design, any city, any kind of craziness or tragedy, it all comes from a long time of preparation.
Ai Weiwei
Image
In the end, I think, the state's rigidity is a function of its own insecurity, its indecisiveness.
Ai Weiwei
Image
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