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This is a very general understanding of art in China, that being an artist can make you money and turn you into a star.

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
Artist
Art
Star
Money
China
Make
General
Turn
Stars
Understanding
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More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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All movies in China are censored. Out of 600 movies produced in China, only 60 are allowed to show in theatres.
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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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To express yourself needs a reason, but expressing yourself is the reason.
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As a total activity - I practice curating, art, architecture, writing, and publishing all together. I still act as a living creature.
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As a person, I was born to give out my opinions. By giving out my opinions, I realize who I am. As long as I can communicate, I'm not so lonely. If I cannot travel, or do art, or have company, if they take away all my belongings, it doesn't matter at all.
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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.
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I don't like China. Even today, I still feel I have no emotional relations with this place.
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Dictatorship is a story about death of others who turn out to be you coincidently.
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China seems unpredictable because it has a distinct culture and social system. It is still a mystery to other parts of the world, even though the veil of China has been lifted many times as a result of globalization.
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This world should be much more open and should be much more free, so the young people would have the chance to exercise the quality of their lives.
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China's culture and history are closely related to my living environment. This country is my birthplace. It is also where I grew up. Its culture and history shape my relations with family, friends, society, and daily life.
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Politics is like air and water. And you know if there is bad politics. Everyone is polluted. Everyone is unhealthy. See the people walking on the street: how they act.
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I am everywhere and I am nowhere. That's the beauty of the Internet Age.
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My typical day is I wake up and appreciate that I can still wake up.
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Choices after waking up: To be true or to lie? To take action or be brainwashed? To be free or be jailed?
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My definition of art has always been the same. It is about freedom of expression. I don’t think anybody can separate art from politics. The intention to separate [the two] is itself a very political intention.
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Recently I danced in a video spoof of the song 'Gangnam Style,' and it was quickly banned across multiple Chinese online video platforms. But the story still traveled all over the world, carried in hundreds of international media reports.
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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 think we cannot have a double standard. We cannot see our art as different from the reality. We cannot use two different sets of judgment.
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Self-censorship is insulting to the self. Timidity is a hopeless way forward.
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