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Somehow, we [ Tan Dun and director Chen Kaige] were all privileged at the time we could be outside of China. But at the moment, we had no sense of what the future was going to be like.

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
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Somehow
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China
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More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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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.
Ai Weiwei
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My definition of art has always been the same. It is about freedom of expression. I don’t think anybody can separate art from politics. The intention to separate [the two] is itself a very political intention.
Ai Weiwei
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I also doubt a man can give really clear reasons for anything.
Ai Weiwei
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Society becomes very destructive.
Ai Weiwei
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To the media, I have become a symbolic figure, critical of China. According to the government, I am a dangerous threat.
Ai Weiwei
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I'm always interested in people who are not orientated in art circles to become part of it.
Ai Weiwei
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Even if there have been setbacks during these past years, China is changing. China's society is opening.
Ai Weiwei
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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.
Ai Weiwei
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My definition of art has always been the same. It is about freedom of expression, a new way of communication. It is never about exhibiting in museums or about hanging it on the wall.
Ai Weiwei
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These are nonviolent people who have lost their freedom simply because they expressed their ideas….In truth, they are heroes of our time.
Ai Weiwei
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The motivation is really to say people can find the game of getting involved interesting and find the problem and really have the passion and the enthusiasm to solve it and move forward, but that's all I know.
Ai Weiwei
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Your own acts tell the world who you are and what kind of society you think it should be.
Ai Weiwei
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My understanding of Chinese history is limited. So far, I have only scratched its surface I wish I could find out more.
Ai Weiwei
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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.
Ai Weiwei
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Anyone fighting for freedom does not want to totally lose their freedom.
Ai Weiwei
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I'm totally independent. I don't bear any responsibility to any system.
Ai Weiwei
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We should use this public sphere and redefine - beyond China's borders - what a government is allowed to do, where its powers end and where the realm of a citizen's privacy begins.
Ai Weiwei
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Expressing oneself is like a drug. I'm so addicted to it.
Ai Weiwei
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I think art is a very important weapon to achieve human freedom
Ai Weiwei
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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.
Ai Weiwei