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Of course, people will call you an old artist or young artist, which is just a character of you. But personally, I don't think my work and my understanding of art is so much related to being Chinese, but the character of that. Maybe it's beyond my own consciousness.

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
Thinking
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Related
People
Artist
Chinese
Art
Beyond
Young
Consciousness
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Maybe
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Personally

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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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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I think we cannot have a double standard. We cannot see our art as different from the reality. We cannot use two different sets of judgment.
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Had I to create a name for these times, I’d say it is the age of craziness
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A society is healthy only when it allows its members to discuss their thoughts openly. This is also the only way that a society can gather consensus, let everyone express his or her wish, and foster creativity.
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Once you've tasted freedom, it stays in your heart...
Ai Weiwei
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The so-called culture nowadays is only a fake one with a superficial front. It is an empty lie.
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All movies in China are censored. Out of 600 movies produced in China, only 60 are allowed to show in theatres.
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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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If there is no freedom of expression, then the beauty of life is lost. Participation in a society is not an artistic choice, it’s a human need.
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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.
Ai Weiwei
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Choices after waking up: To be true or to lie? To take action or be brainwashed? To be free or be jailed?
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
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A lot of the time [in the U.S.], I was thinking about how spending time is always questionable or is always the biggest obstacle in my life.
Ai Weiwei
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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.
Ai Weiwei
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China is an old nation with a colourful history. Its booming economy has triggered an appetite and a curiosity around the world for its art and culture, one that continues to grow. I can, however, tell people that it is a show with no actor.
Ai Weiwei
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I never had a sense of home.
Ai Weiwei
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Growing up, my family was an enemy of the state. I have experienced more disappointment than joy, much more sad stories or desperate conditions.
Ai Weiwei
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I am everywhere and I am nowhere. That's the beauty of the Internet Age.
Ai Weiwei
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Each year, more people want to become artists.
Ai Weiwei
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In my case, I was stuck there for quite a while. New York is large enough to be a very abstract city, so nobody cares.
Ai Weiwei