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I lived there [ in New York City] as an artist, but never as a Chinese artist.

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
Chinese
York
Lived
City
Cities
Artist
Never

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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Behind every political deal in this country, the first casualties are always the ordinary people, who are barely treated as human.
Ai Weiwei
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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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What counts in the end is what the government does.
Ai Weiwei
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Otherwise, I think the building can be bigger, larger, and the city can be much more crazy. The problem is the government structure is so deadly stupid, not really solving problems but creating a lot of problems itself every day.
Ai Weiwei
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[Being unique] gives so much privilege to people who can make it, rather than having some moral and aesthetic discussions.
Ai Weiwei
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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.
Ai Weiwei
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Anyone fighting for freedom does not want to totally lose their freedom.
Ai Weiwei
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Because Chinese art is booming, it legitimizes this profession.
Ai Weiwei
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We see the tendency in the world to criticise democracy and sometimes even to say that authoritarian countries like China are more efficient. That is very short-sighted. China looks efficient only because it can sacrifice most people's rights. This is not something the west should be happy about.
Ai Weiwei
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Destroy or build. Crazy or noncrazy. I'm not nostalgic about the old city. I don't enjoy it that much.
Ai Weiwei
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You need a purpose to express yourself, but that expression is its own purpose.
Ai Weiwei
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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.
Ai Weiwei
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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.
Ai Weiwei
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My typical day is I wake up and appreciate that I can still wake up.
Ai Weiwei
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I have always stated I designed the stadium as a toilet seat. I don't care if this is a great cultural event or a national symbol. It has nothing to do with me. It deals with the city.
Ai Weiwei
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Had I to create a name for these times, I’d say it is the age of craziness
Ai Weiwei
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We should also leave behind discrimination, because it is narrow-minded and ignorant, denies contact and warmth and corrodes mankind's belief that we can better ourselves. The only way to avoid misunderstanding, war and bloodshed is to defend freedom of expression and to communicate with sincerity, concern and good intentions.
Ai Weiwei
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I don't think China should care if this crazy old guy should have a show here or not. You have so many museums in the West, and so many shows, you need somebody to show the work, otherwise it's empty.
Ai Weiwei
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Twitter is most suitable for me. In the Chinese language, 140 characters is a novella.
Ai Weiwei
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...photographs are facts, but not necessarily true... The present always surpasses the past, and the future will not care about today.
Ai Weiwei