Top 140 Ai Weiwei Quotes (2024 Update)
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101. “Cities really are mental conditions. Beijing is a nightmare. A constant nightmare.”

— Ai Weiwei

102. “I think by not letting young people be fully informed, how can they have energy and passion and the right picture of the world? I think that’s the true crime.”

— Ai Weiwei

103. “The people who control culture in China have no culture.”

— Ai Weiwei

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

— Ai Weiwei

105. “Of course, most luxury goods in China are for corrupted officials and their relatives. And that made China become the biggest luxury-goods market. In this kind of dictatorship, in this kind of totalitarian society, it is easy to make deals that you cannot make in a democratic society.”

— Ai Weiwei

106. “You can never know what is and what is not powerful, but you can always find out what the powerful people are scared of. A state like China looks so powerful, but they are so scared of the Internet, so the Internet is more powerful than them.”

— Ai Weiwei

107. “Individual; that means he has his own special way to communicate, which creates the form of him. In the information age, this expression and communication has become so different.”

— Ai Weiwei

108. “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.”

— Ai Weiwei

109. “Had I to create a name for these times, I’d say it is the age of craziness.”

— Ai Weiwei

110. “To the media, I have become a symbolic figure, critical of China. According to the government, I am a dangerous threat.”

— Ai Weiwei

111. “My image of what a city should be – the super-rich and all the poor and desperate and the people who have some kind of a desire. It’s a surviving game, people trying to survive on many different levels.”

— Ai Weiwei

112. “I loved New York – every inch of it. It was a little bit scary at that time, but still, the excitement was so strong – visually and intellectually. It was like a monster.”

— Ai Weiwei

113. “My situation gives me certain ideas about beauty or the excitement of life, but that doesn’t mean other people can necessarily appreciate it.”

— Ai Weiwei

114. “Twitter is the people’s tool, the tool of the ordinary people, people who have no other resources.”

— Ai Weiwei

115. “I have to speak out for people around me who are afraid, who think it is not worth it or who have totally given up hope. So I want to set an example: you can do it and this is okay, to speak out.”

— Ai Weiwei

116. “You need a purpose to express yourself, but that expression is its own purpose.”

— Ai Weiwei

117. “You see so many people doing quite nice and respectful work, but nobody like Warhol. Warhol is outstanding. I think he has a value that is far from fully understood. He’s very special for younger generations.”

— Ai Weiwei

118. “I’m an artist who is always looking for what is possible. I’m always looking to extend the boundaries.”

— Ai Weiwei

119. “China partially wants to become part of the world. By hosting the Olympics and the Expo, they made a big effort to tell people: Look, we are the same. They want to be accepted by the international community.”

— Ai Weiwei

120. “I’m most embarrassed at my art shows, even though I don’t show it.”

— Ai Weiwei

121. “If civil society has nobody who protects the law, then what kind of society is that?”

— Ai Weiwei

122. “I think everybody deserves freedom. Freedom is such an abstract word, but it’s all we need.”

— Ai Weiwei

123. “I remember one little rainy day I went searching for this apartment and I saw so many people standing on a stoop on the corner in the rain. Later I realized, that was drug traffic. They were all buying drugs.”

— Ai Weiwei

124. “Measuring national prestige by gold medals is like using Viagra to judge the potency of a man.”

— Ai Weiwei

125. “All the auction houses care about is the selling of luxury goods.”

— Ai Weiwei

126. “Recently I danced in a video spoof of the song ‘Gangnam Style,’ and it was quickly banned across multiple Chinese online video platforms. But the story still traveled all over the world, carried in hundreds of international media reports.”

— Ai Weiwei

127. “This week, the world gathers in Beijing for the 2008 Olympic games. This is the extraordinary moment China has been dreaming of for 100 years. People have been longing for this moment, because it symbolises a turning point in China’s relationship with the outside world.”

— Ai Weiwei

128. “I think by shattering it we can create a new form, a new way to look at what is valuable – how we decide what is valuable.”

— Ai Weiwei

129. “I always admire writers. My father was a writer, a poet. I always admire people who can clearly state their mind.”

— Ai Weiwei

130. “New York is a city where you’re so alone, you’re an individual, you can disappear. You can make something happen. But it’s very different to make something happen in the art world.”

— Ai Weiwei

131. “Art needs to stand for something.”

— Ai Weiwei

132. “In the ’80s, you couldn’t walk in the neighborhood without looking back to see if anyone was following you. You had your key in your hand before you got to your apartment and you’d rush in so you didn’t have to stop.”

— Ai Weiwei

133. “Warhol came from an ordinary family and he had a profound understanding about capitalism and material culture. He was probably one of the few Western artists – or artists from the United States – that could be considered a true product of his time and brought out that kind of spirit of the culture.”

— Ai Weiwei

134. “Freedom of expression is a very essential condition for me to make any art. Also, it is an essential value for my life. I have to protect this right and also to fight for the possibility.”

— Ai Weiwei

135. “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

136. “This world should be much more open and should be much more free, so the young people would have the chance to exercise the quality of their lives.”

— Ai Weiwei

137. “I don’t believe in the so-called Olympic spirit. I speak from personal experience. When China hosted the Games, it failed to include the people. The event was constructed without regard for their joy.”

— Ai Weiwei

138. “China is an old nation with a colourful history. Its booming economy has triggered an appetite and a curiosity around the world for its art and culture, one that continues to grow. I can, however, tell people that it is a show with no actor.”

— Ai Weiwei

139. “My childhood was quite extreme. Sometimes I was so weak I could not stand up. But now I am so strong. Life is unpredictable.”

— Ai Weiwei

140. “A city is a place that can offer maximum freedom. Otherwise it’s incomplete.”

— Ai Weiwei

141. “I’m always interested in people who are not orientated in art circles to become part of it.”

— Ai Weiwei

142. “Anyone fighting for freedom does not want to totally lose their freedom.”

— Ai Weiwei

143. “The IT people who have made such an effort to know and understand computer technology. They are frustrated that you cannot use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in China. They are the first to recognize that the situation is terrible.”

— Ai Weiwei

144. “Because Great Britain has self-confidence, it doesn’t need a monumental Olympics.”

— Ai Weiwei

145. “Once you’ve tasted freedom, it stays in your throat.”

— Ai Weiwei