Quote

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

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

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

Image
Art needs to stand for something.
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
We should use this public sphere and redefine - beyond China's borders - what a government is allowed to do, where its powers end and where the realm of a citizen's privacy begins.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I think China is laughing about the results of the presidential elections. China, Russia, they all laugh about it. They see how dramatic U.S. has to be put this kind of shame on its own - cannot handle the situation. Or show such a difficulty with this liberal ideas. Men or women created equal. And to defend those very essential ideas.
Ai Weiwei
Image
This so-called contemporary art is not a form, but a philosophy of society.
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
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.
Ai Weiwei
Image
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
Image
Our lives are bound by physical limits, familial ties, political conditions, and geographical restrictions. Individual freedom takes us beyond them all.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I never really read Allen Ginsberg poetry, even though I have a book he gave me.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I always admire writers. My father was a writer, a poet. I always admire people who can clearly state their mind.
Ai Weiwei
Image
It doesn't matter where I am - China will stay in me. I don't know how far I can still walk on this road and what is the limit.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I think art is a very important weapon to achieve human freedom
Ai Weiwei
Image
I also doubt a man can give really clear reasons for anything.
Ai Weiwei
Image
Life is much more interesting when you make a little bit of effort.
Ai Weiwei
Image
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.
Ai Weiwei
Image
If I look at it, I would laugh. I don't know how I became successful.
Ai Weiwei
Image
Now many enterprises are made by individuals, so the attitude has started to change.
Ai Weiwei
Image
Technology is a liberation. I think the information age probably is the best thing to happen to the human race in human evolution. Now you have the equal opportunity to equip yourself through information and knowledge and express yourself as an independent mind.
Ai Weiwei
Image
Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it. I don’t feel that much anger. I equally have a lot of joy.
Ai Weiwei