Ai Weiwei

I'm totally independent. I don't bear any responsibility to any system.

— Ai Weiwei

If my art has nothing to do with people's pain and sorrow, what is 'art' for?

— Ai Weiwei

Police in China can do whatever they want; after 81 days in arbitrary detention you clearly realise that they don't have to…

— Ai Weiwei

China has a rich history that has spanned millennia. It consists of the histories of many nations and regions.

— Ai Weiwei

This world should be much more open and should be much more free, so the young people would have the chance to…

— Ai Weiwei

By participating in the society we live in, we understand our conditions and the way we relate to the world.

— Ai Weiwei

I see the Beijing National Stadium as an architectural project. I accepted Herzog and De Meuron's invitation to collaborate on the design,…

— Ai Weiwei

I curated this show [Shanghai Biennale ], I was by no means trying to shock people or be controversial.

— Ai Weiwei

I think we cannot have a double standard. We cannot see our art as different from the reality. We cannot use two…

— Ai Weiwei

It doesn't matter where I am - China will stay in me. I don't know how far I can still walk on…

— Ai Weiwei

Chinese citizens have never had the right to really express their opinions; in the constitution it says you can, but in the…

— Ai Weiwei

Your own acts tell the world who you are and what kind of society you think it should be.

— Ai Weiwei

Our lives are bound by physical limits, familial ties, political conditions, and geographical restrictions. Individual freedom takes us beyond them all.

— Ai Weiwei

Now I've come to such a mixed culture: America, Europe, South America, Africa. And the politics are changing everywhere all the time…

— Ai Weiwei

I don't think it's worth discussing new directions in the context of Chinese art - there were no old directions, either. Chinese…

— Ai Weiwei

I am very much interested in the so-called useless object. I mean, it takes perfect craftsmanship, beautiful material carefully measured and crafted,…

— Ai Weiwei

Everything is selected by the central government without good judgment or an understanding of culture to make it really safe. They will…

— Ai Weiwei

In a society that restricts individual freedoms and violates human rights, anything that calls itself creative or independent is a pretence. It…

— Ai Weiwei

Even if there have been setbacks during these past years, China is changing. China's society is opening.

— Ai Weiwei

Dictatorship is a story about death of others who turn out to be you coincidently.

— Ai Weiwei

Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it.

— Ai Weiwei

The freedom of speech is an important yardstick for a society's level of civilization.

— Ai Weiwei

Through my work and ways of expression, I strive to engage in dialogue with the society that I am living in.

— Ai Weiwei

Twitter was like a poem. It was rich, real and spontaneous. It really fit my style. In a year and a half,…

— Ai Weiwei

China is at a different stage of development, human rights are violated here much more often. And still, we see improvements even…

— Ai Weiwei