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

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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If there's the right condition, I always want to express the concept or ideas in a very independent way.
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Once you've tasted freedom, it stays in your heart...
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Liberty is about the right to question everything.
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Anyone fighting for freedom does not want to totally lose their freedom.
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I don't think I was very structured in that society and I don't really believe in personal success, which most Americans believe in.
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Whenever there is injustice, there is tension. But in China it is very hard to release your anger unless you burn yourself or you jump from a bridge. In a society where there is no freedom of the press, it is difficult for victims to be noticed.
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Chinese government is very clearly losing power in every aspect, but trying to fix up all the problems or potential problems.
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[Museums] all belongs to the cultural department, which is the biggest cultural department in the world.
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I never really read Allen Ginsberg poetry, even though I have a book he gave me.
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Freedom of expression is a very essential condition for me to make any art. Also, it is an essential value for my life. I have to protect this right and also to fight for the possibility.
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Our lives are bound by physical limits, familial ties, political conditions, and geographical restrictions. Individual freedom takes us beyond them all.
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The fantasy we had with pearls was always so luxurious and unique with a kind of rareness.
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Democracy, material wealth, and universal education are the soil upon which modernism exists.
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Every day I'm learning something new from the practice. It's very rewarding.
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Once you've tasted freedom, it stays in your heart and no one can take it. Then, you can be more powerful than a whole country.
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Historically, China is not a nation of sportsmen. We traditionally put more emphasis on being close to nature than pushing endlessly to excel. A philosophy that values tranquil contemplation of the landscape cannot easily be adapted to the Olympic slogan of 'higher, stronger, faster.'
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Dictatorship is a story about death of others who turn out to be you coincidently.
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The United States is a melting pot. Like John F. Kennedy said, it's a nation of immigrants. But Donald Trump wants to build a fence that clearly makes the statement: You and I are divided. We're different, and you're dangerous. That kind of thinking stops human, civilized evolution. It's dangerous to create that kind of tension.
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All the auction houses care about is the selling of luxury goods.
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Politics is like air and water. And you know if there is bad politics. Everyone is polluted. Everyone is unhealthy. See the people walking on the street: how they act.
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