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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
Shock
Show
Means
Shows
Mean
Trying
People
Shanghai
Controversial

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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All the auction houses care about is the selling of luxury goods.
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I don't believe in a sense of home.
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There's no single artwork I even want to mention or that I can even really think about it to have any feeling, to be proud of it.
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Selling high or low doesn't mean anything. It has to do purely with the market.
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Twitter is most suitable for me. In the Chinese language, 140 characters is a novella.
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We move so fast that memory is something we can only grasp
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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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Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it. I don’t feel that much anger. I equally have a lot of joy.
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This week, the world gathers in Beijing for the 2008 Olympic games. This is the extraordinary moment China has been dreaming of for 100 years. People have been longing for this moment, because it symbolises a turning point in China's relationship with the outside world.
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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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Any design, any city, any kind of craziness or tragedy, it all comes from a long time of preparation.
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Widespread state control over art and culture has left no room for freedom of expression in the country. For more than 60 years, anyone with a dissenting opinion has been suppressed. Chinese art is merely a product: it avoids any meaningful engagement. There is no larger context. Its only purpose is to charm viewers with its ambiguity.
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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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I grew up in a desert, which has no kind of imagination.
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I'm not a writer, but today I think you have to be everything. As an artist you have an obligation to let people know what is on your mind and why you're doing this.
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I'm most embarrassed at my art shows, even though I don't show it.
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Creativity is the power to reject the past, to change the status quo, and to seek new potential. Simply put, aside from using one's imagination - perhaps more importantly - creativity is the power to act.
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To survive, China had to open up to the West. It could not survive otherwise. This was after many millions have died of hunger in a country that was like North Korea is today. Once we became part of global competition, we had to agree to some rules. It's painful, but we had to. Otherwise there was no way to survive.
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I think Donald Trump should cool down a little bit. To pay more attention to the history. To really understand what U.S.'s value is about. I think, as a president, those things you always have to ask.
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The Internet is uncontrollable. And if the Internet is uncontrollable, freedom will win. It's as simple as that.
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