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If artists cannot speak up for human dignity or rights, then who else will do 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
Else
Cannot
Human
Humans
Artists
Dignity
Rights
Speak
Artist

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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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.
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I hope that my work expresses my worldview and encourages people to exchange ideas.
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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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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.
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Even if there have been setbacks during these past years, China is changing. China's society is opening.
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In my case, I was stuck there for quite a while. New York is large enough to be a very abstract city, so nobody cares.
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China hasn't only existed for one day. Now, the whole nation has become richer and it's become a problem. The problem is universal. The factor is big. Everybody has to rethink the balance of the world and the whole landscape.
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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.
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When human beings are scared and feel everything is exposed to the government, we will censor ourselves from free thinking. That's dangerous for human development.
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Every day I'm learning something new from the practice. It's very rewarding.
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Through my work and ways of expression, I strive to engage in dialogue with the society that I am living in.
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If people are being abused or even killed during an arrest, this is highly disturbing.
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All the auction houses care about is the selling of luxury goods.
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My situation gives me certain ideas about beauty or the excitement of life, but that doesn't mean other people can necessarily appreciate it.
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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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I don't belong to a working system. They only select people if you belong to one so you can be controlled.
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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.
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There are no outdoor sports as graceful as throwing stones at a dictatorship.
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China has not established the rule of law and if there is a power above the law there is no social justice. Everybody can be subjected to harm. I'm just a citizen: my life is equal in value to any other. But I'm thankful that when I lost my freedom so many people shared feelings and put such touching effort into helping me.
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My childhood was quite extreme. Sometimes I was so weak I could not stand up. But now I am so strong. Life is unpredictable
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