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I will never leave China, unless I am forced to. Because China is mine. I will not leave something that belongs to me in the hands of people I do not trust.

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
Hands
Belongs
Something
Forced
Never
China
People
Mines
Mine
Unless
Trust
Leave
Patriotism

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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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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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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I believe [the architecture firm] Herzog and de Meuron and our collaboration made the product the best it could be.
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What is important is that we actively express our thoughts and wishes, in every realm that we can access.
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[Being unique] gives so much privilege to people who can make it, rather than having some moral and aesthetic discussions.
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Choices after waking up: To be true or to lie? To take action or be brainwashed? To be free or be jailed?
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Because Chinese art is booming, it legitimizes this profession.
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We see the tendency in the world to criticise democracy and sometimes even to say that authoritarian countries like China are more efficient. That is very short-sighted. China looks efficient only because it can sacrifice most people's rights. This is not something the west should be happy about.
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Liberty is about our rights to question everything.
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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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Of course, most luxury goods in China are for corrupted officials and their relatives. And that made China become the biggest luxury-goods market. In this kind of dictatorship, in this kind of totalitarian society, it is easy to make deals that you cannot make in a democratic society.
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That's why I always question this sense. The feeling of home really requires a lot of trust. It requires you to identify with it, which I always find myself very contradictory to.
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I often feel more disgust than pride about this kind of success. So there's no regret whatsoever.
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Growing up, my family was an enemy of the state. I have experienced more disappointment than joy, much more sad stories or desperate conditions.
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All movies in China are censored. Out of 600 movies produced in China, only 60 are allowed to show in theatres.
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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.
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Without freedom of speech, there is no modern world, just a barbaric one.
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I have people working together, doing different things: architecture, art installation, photography, publishing, and curatorial works and design.
Ai Weiwei
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The demand for individual freedom leads us to different realms, and it enables us to participate in social events.
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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