Ai Weiwei Quotes
- All Quotes
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If a nation cannot face its past, it has no future.
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Self-censorship is insulting to the self. Timidity is a hopeless way forward.
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I’m so fearful, that’s not fearless... I act more brave because I know the danger’s really there. If you don’t act, the danger becomes stronger.
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To me, to be political means you associate your work with a larger number of people’s living conditions, and that includes both mental and physical conditions. And you try to use your work to affect the situation.
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My blog is an extension of my thinking. Why should I deform my thinking simply because I live under a government that espouses an ideology which I believe to be totally against humanity?
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Contemporary art and the Communist Party are an impossible situation. It’s like oil and water-they can never mix.
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I don’t know about five years from now. I have no plans for that. Maybe I’ll be forgotten by then.
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The government may be made up of clever, sensible people. But if they do not believe in basic human values, the more clever or shrewd they are the greater the tragedy they will create.
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Nothing can silence me as long as I am alive. I don’t give any kind of excuse. If I cannot come out of China or I cannot go in to China this is not going to change my belief. But when I am there, I am in this condition: I see it, I see people who need help. Then you know, I just want to offer my possibility to help them.
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In China, there is a long history of the government not revealing information, so it’s difficult for the Chinese people to ever know the truth. It is vital that we try to bring that truth to life.
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They have to have an enemy. They have to create you as their enemy in order for them to continue their existence. It’s very ironic.
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Writers, artists, and commentators on websites are detained or thrown into jail when they reflect on democracy, opening up, reform and reason. This is the reality of China.
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Myself, I try to search for the new way, always trying to set up a new possibility and to find the new tools to express myself. To reach a broader audience.
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The people who control culture in China have no culture.
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I try to encourage people to look at our past in a critical way because as our education, we have a great, great history. But in reality we are poorest in ethics and philosophy, so I try to raise people’s consciousness on how we deal with our past.
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Art is always about overcoming obstacles between the inner condition and the skill for expression.
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I think we have too much history. It’s not so important. I think people should have fun and enjoy their own time. I haven’t done much, so why should I waste people’s memory?'
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In an environment without public platform nor protection, the individual is the most powerful and most responsible.
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But the internet is like a tree that is growing. The people will always have the last word – even if someone has a very weak, quiet voice.
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When I returned to China from the United States, I didn’t have a U.S. passport, a wife, or a university degree. From the Chinese point of view, I was a total failure.
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I have the responsibility to let the people know what happened to me, and did I commit the crime or if I didn’t, what is the real accusation? Why am I in this condition today? I think it reflects our human condition in this piece of land, and if I don’t bear some responsibility . . . . many, many people, their voice can never be heard.
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'It became like a symbolic thing, to be 'an artist.' After Duchamp, I realized that being an artist is more about a lifestyle and attitude than producing some product.'
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On the Internet, people do not know each other, they don’t have common leaders, sometimes not even a common political goal. But they come together on certain issues. I think that is a miracle. It never happened in the past. Without the Internet, I would not even be Ai Weiwei today. I would just be an artist somewhere doing my shows.
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They don’t believe in liberty. They don’t believe in China before the Communists. There is only one simple, clear task: to protect their control, to maintain their governing. Which is such a pity.