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I'm most embarrassed at my art shows, even though I don't show it.

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
Though
Show
Art
Shows
Even
Embarrassed

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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China partially wants to become part of the world. By hosting the Olympics and the Expo, they made a big effort to tell people: Look, we are the same. They want to be accepted by the international community.
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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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If artists cannot speak up for human dignity or rights, then who else will do it?
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[Cultural department] understand nothing but bureaucratic daily affairs. They don't care about culture.
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I don't think China should care if this crazy old guy should have a show here or not. You have so many museums in the West, and so many shows, you need somebody to show the work, otherwise it's empty.
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I am very much interested in the so-called useless object. I mean, it takes perfect craftsmanship, beautiful material carefully measured and crafted, but at the same time it’s really useless.
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I loved New York — every inch of it. It was a little bit scary at that time, but still, the excitement was so strong — visually and intellectually. It was like a monster.
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Of course, people will call you an old artist or young artist, which is just a character of you. But personally, I don't think my work and my understanding of art is so much related to being Chinese, but the character of that. Maybe it's beyond my own consciousness.
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Today, we jump into this globalization of the economy and the internet age.
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A nation like China has become one of the biggest production fields for exporting cheap labor, which also re-questions our history and past, re-questions human desire, and the human illusions of the past.
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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.
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I think everybody deserves freedom. Freedom is such an abstract word, but it's all we need.
Ai Weiwei
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Art needs to stand for something.
Ai Weiwei
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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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In China, we don't have any contemporary art museums. Until a few years ago, we didn't even have a gallery.
Ai Weiwei
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Creativity is the power to act.
Ai Weiwei
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What counts in the end is what the government does.
Ai Weiwei
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I suddenly realized I was getting ten opening notes a day on my mobile phone, more than when I was in New York. But this is China, where nothing is surprising.
Ai Weiwei
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Democracy, material wealth, and universal education are the soil upon which modernism exists.
Ai Weiwei
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Beijing is constructing a 100,000 m2 modern art museum, yet it will not feature any of my work.
Ai Weiwei