Quote

In a society that restricts individual freedoms and violates human rights, anything that calls itself creative or independent is a pretence. It is impossible for a totalitarian society to create anything with passion and imagination.

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
Individual
Independent
Anything
Create
Restricts
Human
Imagination
Violates
Humans
Impossible
Pretence
Passion
Totalitarian
Creative
Freedoms
Rights
Calls
Society
Tyranny

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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I don't think my father had a direct influence on me, but I do think, more or less, I was influenced by his independent individualism. And the kind of condition he had when he was in this society - the kind of mistreatment society gave him.
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China has a rich history that has spanned millennia. It consists of the histories of many nations and regions.
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I’m an artist who is always looking for what is possible. I’m always looking to extend the boundaries.
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Even if I have hundreds of things to do, the disconnected feeling is still there because it is very hard to find a real purpose of life.
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The media is the message. It carries the full intention and the meaning. Once you change it...it's very disturbing.
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I don't think [price] reflects if the work is good or bad.A good artist shouldn't be nervous about that.
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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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In an environment without public platform nor protection, the individual is the most powerful and most responsible.
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If you just turn to your paper or television each day, there are thousands of stories that are much more shocking than the gallery artworks.
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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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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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We move so fast that memory is something we can only grasp
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If artists cannot speak up for human dignity or rights, then who else will do it?
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The American experience influenced my understanding of individuality, basic human rights, freedom of expression and the rights and responsibilities of citizens.
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Measuring national prestige by gold medals is like using Viagra to judge the potency of a man.
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The motivation is really to say people can find the game of getting involved interesting and find the problem and really have the passion and the enthusiasm to solve it and move forward, but that's all I know.
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China and the U.S. are two societies with very different attitudes towards opinion and criticism. In China, I am constantly under surveillance. Even my slightest, most innocuous move can - and often is - censored by Chinese authorities.
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I never had secure, belonging feelings with this society [in China].
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I remember one little rainy day I went searching for this apartment and I saw so many people standing on a stoop on the corner in the rain. Later I realized, that was drug traffic. They were all buying drugs.
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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.
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