In a society that restricts individual freedoms and violates human rights, anything that calls itself creative or independent is a pretence. It is impossible for a totalitarian society to create anything with passion and imagination. — 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
