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People have a tendency to become elite rather than to care about the general conditions of the society, which makes me sick. It's an unbearable condition.

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
People
Sick
General
Conditions
Elite
Society
Unbearable
Rather
Elites
Makes
Tendency
Become
Tendencies
Care
Condition

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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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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To work in architecture you are so much involved with society, with politics, with bureaucrats. It's a very complicated process to do large projects. You start to see the society, how it functions, how it works. Then you have a lot of criticism about how it works.
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That's why I always question this sense. The feeling of home really requires a lot of trust. It requires you to identify with it, which I always find myself very contradictory to.
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We have to give our opinion, we have to say something, or we are a part of it. As an artist I am forced to say something.
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Art is always about overcoming obstacles between the inner condition and the skill for expression.
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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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I'm a free man now, except I cannot leave China. You know, I have no desire to travel. I have so many things to do I cannot finish them now.
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Democracy, material wealth, and universal education are the soil upon which modernism exists.
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China is at a different stage of development, human rights are violated here much more often. And still, we see improvements even here.
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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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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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If my art has nothing to do with people's pain and sorrow, what is 'art' for?
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You're still being looked at as somebody who - it's a very complicated issue.
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If people are being abused or even killed during an arrest, this is highly disturbing.
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I always want to design a frame that’s open to everyone. I don’t see art as a secret code.
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As a human being, member of society, you must clearly state your mind. It's a responsibility. It is the way you identify yourself otherwise you don't know who you are and why you are here.
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If artists cannot speak up for human dignity or rights, then who else will do it?
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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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[Shanghai Biennale] has been my attitude for as long as I've been practicing art and other cultural-related activities.
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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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