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[Shanghai Biennale] has been my attitude for as long as I've been practicing art and other cultural-related activities.

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
Practicing
Activities
Cultural
Related
Activity
Attitude
Art
Long
Shanghai

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I spent a lot of time standing on street corners [of New York City] talking to local residents. I spent time in bookstores and galleries. But most of the time, I really did not have much to do.
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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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Overturning police cars is a super-intense workout. It’s probably the only sport I enjoy.
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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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I don't belong to a working system. They only select people if you belong to one so you can be controlled.
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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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I never really read Allen Ginsberg poetry, even though I have a book he gave me.
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I see the Beijing National Stadium as an architectural project. I accepted Herzog and De Meuron's invitation to collaborate on the design, and our proposal won the competition. From beginning to end, I stayed with the project. I am committed to fostering relationships between a city and its architecture.
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The whole Chinese system - not just the political leadership, the military too, the whole power structure, our education system, the whole of society - is suffering from being cut off from the free flow of information. That's why the country can't face up to open competition - unless it resorts to measures like North Korea.
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Everything is art. Everything is politics.
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I never had a sense of home.
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Just look at the statistics: Each university has tens of thousands of applications for students who want to be in art school, but they can only accept a few hundred.
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I'm not nostalgic about the old city. I don't enjoy it that much. It was just a city with one emperor and the rest of them just rats or meaningless people.
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It became like a symbolic thing, to be “an artist.” After Duchamp, I realized that being an artist is more about a lifestyle and attitude than producing some product.
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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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I saw [Allen Ginsberg] more as an old man who liked poetry and who had a lot of physical and emotional problems. We liked our time together.
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If you don’t act, the danger becomes stronger.
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I am everywhere and I am nowhere. That's the beauty of the Internet Age.
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The misconception of totalitarianism is that freedom can be imprisoned. This is not the case. When you constrain freedom, freedom will take flight and land on a windowsill.
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The people who control culture in China have no culture.
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