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I curated this show [Shanghai Biennale ], I was by no means trying to shock people or be controversial.

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
Shows
Mean
Trying
People
Shanghai
Controversial
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More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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If I really have nothing to do, I just watch my cats, take some photos, and go back to my personal blog.
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I think you can give meaning to any condition you can be poor or unsuccessful or be so-called successful. But I don't think that it would give an individual human being a better condition.
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The Internet has established a public sphere and developed a pressure which the government can no longer ignore.
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Life is never guaranteed to be safe, so we better use it while we are still in good condition.
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I don't think my father had a direct influence on me, but I do think, more or less, I was influenced by his independent individualism. And the kind of condition he had when he was in this society - the kind of mistreatment society gave him.
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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 had secure, belonging feelings with this society [in China].
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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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It's always nice to share your energy with young people, the people who might not have any skills but are simply willing to be a part of it.
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It is not an easy job to govern China, I am aware of that. There are crises and emergencies all the time, we might not even be aware of some. But I am afraid we'll have to wait and observe precisely what the government is up to.
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To the media, I have become a symbolic figure, critical of China. According to the government, I am a dangerous threat.
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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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For years, I refused to go to any openings, not even my own.
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Artists are the worst [people]. They are selfish, self-centred they don't care what happens.
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Now many enterprises are made by individuals, so the attitude has started to change.
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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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In the '80s, you couldn't walk in the neighborhood without looking back to see if anyone was following you. You had your key in your hand before you got to your apartment and you'd rush in so you didn't have to stop.
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Everyone of us is a potential convict.
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We should use this public sphere and redefine - beyond China's borders - what a government is allowed to do, where its powers end and where the realm of a citizen's privacy begins.
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I grew up in a desert, which has no kind of imagination.
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