Quote

To the media, I have become a symbolic figure, critical of China. According to the government, I am a dangerous threat.

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
China
Threat
Figure
Figures
Dangerous
Symbolic
Media
According
Become
Government
Critical

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

Image
When you have strict censorship of the internet, young students cannot receive a full education. Their view of the world is imbalanced. There can be no true discussion of the issues.
Ai Weiwei
Image
It's really rubbish that some kind of technical learning means you will be a better person because you know this skill better.
Ai Weiwei
Image
My childhood was quite extreme. Sometimes I was so weak I could not stand up. But now I am so strong. Life is unpredictable
Ai Weiwei
Image
All the rich people collect traditional Chinese art. So it's very natural for Chinese families to still see art as the highest human performance and send their children to this field.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I curated this show [Shanghai Biennale ], I was by no means trying to shock people or be controversial.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I never regret anything.
Ai Weiwei
Image
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.
Ai Weiwei
Image
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.
Ai Weiwei
Image
All movies in China are censored. Out of 600 movies produced in China, only 60 are allowed to show in theatres.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I'm not a writer, but today I think you have to be everything. As an artist you have an obligation to let people know what is on your mind and why you're doing this.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I don't believe in a sense of home.
Ai Weiwei
Image
Say what you say plainly, and then take responsibility for it.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I think the pearls - one is a necklace, and another you have five hundred pounds of pearls, which may be one million pearls in a bowl - really show a kind of [society] condition.
Ai Weiwei
Image
To survive, China had to open up to the West. It could not survive otherwise. This was after many millions have died of hunger in a country that was like North Korea is today. Once we became part of global competition, we had to agree to some rules. It's painful, but we had to. Otherwise there was no way to survive.
Ai Weiwei
Image
In a society like this there is no negotiation, no discussion, except to tell you that power can crush you any time they want — not only you, your whole family and all people like you.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I came back [to Beijing ] because that's the only time I had an excuse to come back, or otherwise I would never have a reason to come back.
Ai Weiwei
Image
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.
Ai Weiwei
Image
The whole Chinese system - not just the political leadership, the military too, the whole power structure, our education system, the whole of society - is suffering from being cut off from the free flow of information. That's why the country can't face up to open competition - unless it resorts to measures like North Korea.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I saw [Allen Ginsberg] more as an old man who liked poetry and who had a lot of physical and emotional problems. We liked our time together.
Ai Weiwei
Image
The tragic reality of today is reflected in the true plight of our spiritual existence. We are spineless and cannot stand straight.
Ai Weiwei