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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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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
Nothing
Opening
Suddenly
Realized
Notes
Ten
Mobile
China
Surprising
York
Phone
Getting
Phones

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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I'm always interested in people who are not orientated in art circles to become part of it.
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I never saw [Allen Ginsberg] as some kind of crazy figure.
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New York is a city where you're so alone, you're an individual, you can disappear. You can make something happen. But it's very different to make something happen in the art world.
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It [success] is really by mistake.
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China didn't want to lose the cutting edge of technology. So the idea of having a Sina Weibo was an attempt to compete with Twitter. However, it has no soul - which is freedom of expression. Nevertheless, I think the government regrets having Sina Weibo, but they cannot shut it down. That would definitely be suicidal.
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Now many enterprises are made by individuals, so the attitude has started to change.
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A society is healthy only when it allows its members to discuss their thoughts openly. This is also the only way that a society can gather consensus, let everyone express his or her wish, and foster creativity.
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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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[Cultural departments] don't care about culture. Maybe they're the furthest from the people who understand culture.
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Creativity is the power to act.
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We see the tendency in the world to criticise democracy and sometimes even to say that authoritarian countries like China are more efficient. That is very short-sighted. China looks efficient only because it can sacrifice most people's rights. This is not something the west should be happy about.
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Maybe [success] is because I'm in China and I'm more open. Maybe it's my independent behavior, or because I participated in certain projects. I have no idea.
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Today, the general masses in this society are in this political-social condition that really encourages people to become rich and become a star and be unique.
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Many people I know - writers, poets - they have all been sentenced not once but sometimes three times after they come out. They serve five or six years, come out another time, and then nine years. Come out again, 12 years. Only because they have a different opinion. They are innocent people, they have beautiful minds, beautiful hearts.
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I often feel more disgust than pride about this kind of success. So there's no regret whatsoever.
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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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We are living in a popular culture where everything is overexposed.
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In my life, I often make so-called major decisions by very quick, immediate responses.
Ai Weiwei
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I don't think China has professional museums - not in the past, present, or near future.
Ai Weiwei
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My mother became much older when I came out (ed's note: of detention). She had problems with her hearing and high blood pressure. But they still support me.
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