My situation gives me certain ideas about beauty or the excitement of life, but that doesn't mean other people can necessarily appreciate… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
[Cultural departments] don't care about culture. Maybe they're the furthest from the people who understand culture. — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
Today, the general masses in this society are in this political-social condition that really encourages people to become rich and become a… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
I remember one little rainy day I went searching for this apartment and I saw so many people standing on a stoop… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
In a society like this there is no negotiation, no discussion, except to tell you that power can crush you any time… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
To protect the right of expression is the central part of an artist's activity... In China many essential rights are lacking, and… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
Art should live in the heart of the people. Ordinary people should have the same ability to understand art as anybody else.… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
I'm not nostalgic about the old city. I don't enjoy it that much. It was just a city with one emperor and… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
The 'Bird's Nest' National Stadium, which I helped to conceive, is designed to embody the Olympic spirit of 'fair competition.' It tells… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
My image of what a city should be - the super-rich and all the poor and desperate and the people who have… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
The deadly weapon against totalitarian society is openness - doing everything very openly on the Internet, letting people know every detail, any… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
At the moment about 350,000 students return to China from abroad each year - 350,000 young and educated people. I know about… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
Many people I know - writers, poets - they have all been sentenced not once but sometimes three times after they come… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
If I walk on the street, if I go to a restaurant, people come to me and say: "Can we take a… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
China has not established the rule of law and if there is a power above the law there is no social justice.… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
For artists and intellectuals today, what is most needed is to be clear about social responsibility, because that is what most people… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
If we all say the same thing, then I think the government has to listen. But because no one is saying it,… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
All the rich people collect traditional Chinese art. So it's very natural for Chinese families to still see art as the highest… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
The motivation is really to say people can find the game of getting involved interesting and find the problem and really have… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
I think by not letting young people be fully informed, how can they have energy and passion and the right picture of… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
The IT people who have made such an effort to know and understand computer technology. They are frustrated that you cannot use… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
Beijing's Olympics were very grand - they were trying to throw a party for the world, but the hosts didn't enjoy it.… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
We live in changing times, and many people experience the challenges that come with it. In the face of uncertain futures, no… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
I also have to speak out for people around me who are afraid, who think it is not worth it or who… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
Politics is like air and water. And you know if there is bad politics. Everyone is polluted. Everyone is unhealthy. See the… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
This week, the world gathers in Beijing for the 2008 Olympic games. This is the extraordinary moment China has been dreaming of… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
China partially wants to become part of the world. By hosting the Olympics and the Expo, they made a big effort to… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
Censorship is saying: 'I'm the one who says the last sentence. Whatever you say, the conclusion is mine.' But the internet is… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
People have a tendency to become elite rather than to care about the general conditions of the society, which makes me sick.… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
You see so many people doing quite nice and respectful work, but nobody like Warhol. Warhol is outstanding. I think he has… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
I don't believe in the so-called Olympic spirit. I speak from personal experience. When China hosted the Games, it failed to include… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
I call on people to be 'obsessed citizens,' forever questioning and asking for accountability. That's the only chance we have today of… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
My work is always a ready-made... cultural, political, or social, and also it could be art - to make people re-look at… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
This nation is notorious for its ability to make or fake anything cheaply. 'Made-in-China' goods now fill homes around the world. But… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
If a society cannot even support somebody like me, then people ask: Who is under protection then? That's why there is such… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
I'm not a writer, but today I think you have to be everything. As an artist you have an obligation to let… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
Now the British are coming. I think Cameron should ask the Chinese government not to make people 'disappear' or to jail them… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share Image
Police in China can do whatever they want; after 81 days in arbitrary detention you clearly realise that they don't have to obey their… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share
China has a rich history that has spanned millennia. It consists of the histories of many nations and regions. — Ai Weiwei Copy Share
This world should be much more open and should be much more free, so the young people would have the chance to exercise the… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share
By participating in the society we live in, we understand our conditions and the way we relate to the world. — Ai Weiwei Copy Share
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… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share
I curated this show [Shanghai Biennale ], I was by no means trying to shock people or be controversial. — Ai Weiwei Copy Share
I think we cannot have a double standard. We cannot see our art as different from the reality. We cannot use two different sets… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share
It doesn't matter where I am - China will stay in me. I don't know how far I can still walk on this road… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share
Chinese citizens have never had the right to really express their opinions; in the constitution it says you can, but in the real world… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share
Your own acts tell the world who you are and what kind of society you think it should be. — Ai Weiwei Copy Share
Our lives are bound by physical limits, familial ties, political conditions, and geographical restrictions. Individual freedom takes us beyond them all. — Ai Weiwei Copy Share
Now I've come to such a mixed culture: America, Europe, South America, Africa. And the politics are changing everywhere all the time and becoming… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share
I don't think it's worth discussing new directions in the context of Chinese art - there were no old directions, either. Chinese art has… — Ai Weiwei Copy Share
![“[Cultural departments] don't care about culture. Maybe they're the furthest from the people who understand culture.” quote by Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/e94/ai-weiwei-824_care_cultural-departments-don-t-care-about-cu_1842282.jpg)
![“The deadly weapon against totalitarian society is openness - doing everything very openly on the Internet, letting people know every detail, any little development. Once it is out there, everybody can make their own judgement. [Therefore] holding a trial outside the court. I think that is…” quote by Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/3f0/ai-weiwei-824_civil-society_the-deadly-weapon-against-totalitarian-s_560420.jpg)
