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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

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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
Museum
Feature
Museums
Features
Modern
Art
Work
Constructing
Beijing

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No state or society can claim to have established human rights once and for all.
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I don't believe in a sense of home.
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Every day I'm learning something new from the practice. It's very rewarding.
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I have to respect my life, and free expression is part of my life. I can never really silence myself.
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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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The IT people who have made such an effort to know and understand computer technology. They are frustrated that you cannot use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in China. They are the first to recognize that the situation is terrible.
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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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I think U.S. and China is a big opportunity, to be seen as partner or some kind of strategic partner maybe. But those kind of powers have a way of getting too big, then we'll have competition. And who is going to win the competition if U.S. cannot hold a strong ideology? And even the U.S. would've lost the ground to win.
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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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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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Even if there have been setbacks during these past years, China is changing. China's society is opening.
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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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I grew up in a desert, which has no kind of imagination.
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For years, I refused to go to any openings, not even my own.
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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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What is important is that we actively express our thoughts and wishes, in every realm that we can access.
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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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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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I think it’s a responsibility for any artist to protect freedom of expression and to use any way to extend this power.
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Overturning police cars is a super-intense workout. It’s probably the only sport I enjoy.
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