Quote

I don't think there is a distinct change, because in the West I'm not a person who can serve his purpose.

Ai Weiwei

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

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
West
Purpose
Change
Persons
Person
Think
Thinking
Distinct
Serve

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

Image
We move so fast that memory is something we can only grasp
Ai Weiwei
Image
Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I think it's more important to show your work to the public.
Ai Weiwei
Image
My typical day is I wake up and appreciate that I can still wake up.
Ai Weiwei
Image
You only have temporary curiosity, amusement, and challenges, but that does not necessarily mean you are really convinced that it's necessary or that it's not even worth to do it. It's just a way you have to set up some kind of activities to follow your instincts or your curiosities.
Ai Weiwei
Image
The media is the message. It carries the full intention and the meaning. Once you change it...it's very disturbing.
Ai Weiwei
Image
If it's possible, I will have some noodles in the morning and start talking to people, start to think about a few things in my head - the project or a few ideas which are not finished or if there are possible directions and what will lead into another game. It's always like setting up some kind of game you can continuously play.
Ai Weiwei
Image
At the moment about 350,000 students return to China from abroad each year - 350,000 young and educated people. I know about them because they know me and often ask me in the street if they can take a selfie with me. These folks are creative and ironic, and the government can ultimately not control what is going on in their heads.
Ai Weiwei
Image
Many people I know - writers, poets - they have all been sentenced not once but sometimes three times after they come out. They serve five or six years, come out another time, and then nine years. Come out again, 12 years. Only because they have a different opinion. They are innocent people, they have beautiful minds, beautiful hearts.
Ai Weiwei
Image
When human beings are scared and feel everything is exposed to the government, we will censor ourselves from free thinking. That's dangerous for human development.
Ai Weiwei
Image
A historical property has morals and ethics of the society that created it and it can be revived. What I mean is that we can discover new possibilities from the process of dismantling, transforming, and recreating.
Ai Weiwei
Image
My musician friends are banned from playing concerts in China because they share the same views as I do. My name cannot appear on the web, because my opinion is different from the Party.
Ai Weiwei
Image
Only with the Internet can a peasant I have never met hear my voice and I can learn what's on his mind. A fairy tale has come true.
Ai Weiwei
Image
Historically, China is not a nation of sportsmen. We traditionally put more emphasis on being close to nature than pushing endlessly to excel. A philosophy that values tranquil contemplation of the landscape cannot easily be adapted to the Olympic slogan of 'higher, stronger, faster.'
Ai Weiwei
Image
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
Image
The [China] government has improved in the last years. Of course, the structure is still the same there's still a one-party system and strong censorship.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I can still wake up the next day and feel that there's something that needs to be done, which always amuses me.
Ai Weiwei
Image
So-called Chinese art and culture is under control of the Party. They exist to serve the official agenda. I call it fake art and culture.
Ai Weiwei
Image
Art needs to stand for something.
Ai Weiwei
Image
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.
Ai Weiwei