Ai Weiwei Quotes

Contemporary artist

Browse famous quotes by Ai Weiwei.

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All People China Thinking Art Ifs Chinese Kind World Humans Conditions

Famous Ai Weiwei Quotes

“China spends a lot of resources and effort on gaining soft power over culture. The hope is that it can be the last lifeline for the Party's survival. Obviously, the idea will fail.”

Ideas Lasts Culture Party Effort Failing Survival Resources China Lifelines

Author:Ai Weiwei

“For years, I refused to go to any openings, not even my own.”

Years My Own Opening

Author:Ai Weiwei

“I suddenly realized I was getting ten opening notes a day on my mobile phone, more than when I was in New York. But this is China, where nothing is surprising.”

New York Ten Notes Phones China Opening Surprising Mobile Mobile Phones

Author:Ai Weiwei

“All the rich people collect traditional Chinese art. So it's very natural for Chinese families to still see art as the highest human performance and send their children to this field.”

People Humans Children Art Stills Natural Rich Fields Highest Performances Traditional Chinese Rich People Chinese Art

Author:Ai Weiwei

“Because Chinese art is booming, it legitimizes this profession.”

Art Art Is Profession Chinese Chinese Art

Author:Ai Weiwei

“To give a price to an artwork, no matter how high or low, is always absurd. It's not something that can be measured by money or by certain numbers.”

Giving Matter Certain Numbers Lows Absurd Artwork

Author:Ai Weiwei

“Selling high or low doesn't mean anything. It has to do purely with the market.”

Mean Lows Selling

Author:Ai Weiwei

“I don't think [price] reflects if the work is good or bad.A good artist shouldn't be nervous about that.”

Ifs Thinking Artist Nervous Good Art Good Artist

Author:Ai Weiwei

“This is a very general understanding of art in China, that being an artist can make you money and turn you into a star.”

Art Artist Turns Stars Understanding China Being An Artist

Author:Ai Weiwei

“We are living in a popular culture where everything is overexposed.”

Culture Popular Culture

Author:Ai Weiwei

“Just look at the statistics: Each university has tens of thousands of applications for students who want to be in art school, but they can only accept a few hundred.”

Want Looks Art School Accepting Students Hundred University Statistics Application Art School

Author:Ai Weiwei

“Each year, more people want to become artists.”

People Want Years Artist

Author:Ai Weiwei

“I don't think China has professional museums - not in the past, present, or near future.”

Thinking Past China Museums Past Present

Author:Ai Weiwei

“The museums used to be exhibition halls for government propaganda, and now every city wants to build a museum. A few thousand are to be built in the next few years, all using taxpayer money. But there is no system, no research, no content, no good programs, no good managers.”

Want Years Government Used Next Cities Thousand Research Built Program Used To Be Managers Propaganda Good Man Halls Museums Taxpayers Exhibitions Good Manager

Author:Ai Weiwei

“[Museums] all belongs to the cultural department, which is the biggest cultural department in the world.”

World Department Museums

Author:Ai Weiwei

“[Cultural department] understand nothing but bureaucratic daily affairs. They don't care about culture.”

Care Culture Affair Don't Care Department

Author:Ai Weiwei

“[Cultural departments] don't care about culture. Maybe they're the furthest from the people who understand culture.”

People Care Culture Don't Care Department

Author:Ai Weiwei

“Everything is selected by the central government without good judgment or an understanding of culture to make it really safe. They will become nobody to maintain their power and be raised to the next higher level.”

Government Culture Next Understanding Levels Higher Safe Judgment Raised Selected Higher Level Good Judgment Central Government

Author:Ai Weiwei

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

People Trying Mean Shows Shock Controversial Shanghai

Author:Ai Weiwei

“[Shanghai Biennale] has been my attitude for as long as I've been practicing art and other cultural-related activities.”

Long Has Beens Art Attitude Activity Related My Attitude Shanghai

Author:Ai Weiwei

“If there's the right condition, I always want to express the concept or ideas in a very independent way.”

Ifs Way Want Ideas Conditions Concepts Independent

Author:Ai Weiwei

“If you just turn to your paper or television each day, there are thousands of stories that are much more shocking than the gallery artworks.”

Ifs Stories Turns Television Paper Each Day Shocking Gallery Artwork

Author:Ai Weiwei

“I think we cannot have a double standard. We cannot see our art as different from the reality. We cannot use two different sets of judgment.”

Thinking Art Two Different Use Reality Judgment Standards Double Standard

Author:Ai Weiwei

“I don't think my father had a direct influence on me, but I do think, more or less, I was influenced by his independent individualism. And the kind of condition he had when he was in this society - the kind of mistreatment society gave him.”

Thinking Kind Father Influence Conditions Direct Independent Individualism This Society Mistreatment

Author:Ai Weiwei

“When I first got into the first-year study after the Cultural Revolution, got into the same school with this group, I wasn't conscious of the so-called "Fifth Generation." I didn't like that kind of study condition because there's no real, true education there.”

Years Firsts Kind Real School Study Generations Groups Conditions Revolution Conscious Fifth True Education Real True

Author:Ai Weiwei

“It's really rubbish that some kind of "technical" learning means you will be a better person because you know this skill better.”

Knows Kind Mean Persons Skills Better Person Rubbish Being A Better Person

Author:Ai Weiwei

“People have a tendency to become elite rather than to care about the general conditions of the society, which makes me sick. It's an unbearable condition.”

People Care Conditions Sick Tendencies Elites Unbearable

Author:Ai Weiwei

“Today, the general masses in this society are in this political-social condition that really encourages people to become rich and become a star and be unique.”

People Today Political Social Stars Rich Conditions Mass Unique This Society Become Rich Social Conditions

Author:Ai Weiwei

“[Being unique] gives so much privilege to people who can make it, rather than having some moral and aesthetic discussions.”

People Giving Moral Unique Privilege Discussion Aesthetic Being Unique

Author:Ai Weiwei

“Society becomes very destructive.”

Destructive

Author:Ai Weiwei

“For those actors and directors who produce films which are always about the old kingdom or about heroes, you know about the fantasies related to the classics, but there is no real discussion about today's life and no discussion of the real conditions - which is really sickening. They've become part of a conspiracy, collaborators of the crime, which is lying to the general public and trying to hide the kind of criminal acts happening in many cases.”

Knows Trying Kind Real Today Film Lying Actors Cases Fantasy Conditions Crime Produce Hero Directors Happenings Criminals Kingdoms Discussion Related Conspiracy Collaborators General Public

Author:Ai Weiwei

“I never regret anything.”

Regret Never Regret I Never Regret Never Regret Anything

Author:Ai Weiwei

“I never think any place is better than others.”

Thinking

Author:Ai Weiwei

“I think you can give meaning to any condition; you can be poor or unsuccessful or be so-called successful. But I don't think that it would give an individual human being a better condition.”

Thinking Giving Humans Individual Human Beings Poor Successful Conditions Unsuccessful

Author:Ai Weiwei

“This so-called fame or being better off doesn't really attract me at all.”

Fame Better Off

Author:Ai Weiwei

“I often feel more disgust than pride about this kind of success. So there's no regret whatsoever.”

Feels Kind Regret Pride Disgusting No Regrets

Author:Ai Weiwei

“I spent a lot of time standing on street corners [of New York City] talking to local residents. I spent time in bookstores and galleries. But most of the time, I really did not have much to do.”

Cities Talking Streets New York Standing Corners Locals New York City Gallery Bookstores Residents Street Corners

Author:Ai Weiwei

“A lot of the time [in the U.S.], I was thinking about how spending time is always questionable or is always the biggest obstacle in my life.”

Thinking Obstacles Spending Spending Time Questionable Biggest Obstacles

Author:Ai Weiwei

“I lived there [ in New York City] as an artist, but never as a Chinese artist.”

Artist Cities New York Chinese New York City

Author:Ai Weiwei

“Even though everybody who looked at me would call me a Chinese artist, that's the 1980s. New York in the '80s was not so interesting. I think it's quite narrow-minded. There wasn't much encouragement or opportunities for any artist - not just Chinese artists.”

Thinking Artist Opportunity Interesting New York Encouragement Chinese Call Me 80s Narrow-minded

Author:Ai Weiwei

“To call yourself a Chinese artist or woman artist or African artist reflects a certain kind of condition. To me, that is not necessary.”

Kind Artist Certain Conditions Chinese Woman Artist

Author:Ai Weiwei

“Of course, people will call you an old artist or young artist, which is just a character of you. But personally, I don't think my work and my understanding of art is so much related to being Chinese, but the character of that. Maybe it's beyond my own consciousness.”

People Thinking Art Character Young Artist Courses Understanding My Own Consciousness Art Is Chinese Related Young Artists

Author:Ai Weiwei

“I was an illegal alien for many, many years. I couldn't move. If I moved I could not even get a visa back.”

Ifs Years Moving Moved Aliens Illegal Visa Illegal Aliens

Author:Ai Weiwei

“In my case, I was stuck there for quite a while. New York is large enough to be a very abstract city, so nobody cares.”

Enough Care Cities Cases New York Stuck Abstract Nobody Cares

Author:Ai Weiwei

“New York was not a romantic city at [80th]. Nobody knows who you are and you don't have to care about anybody else. It's a very cold city, I should say.”

Knows Should Care Cities New York Cold Who You Are Nobody Knows

Author:Ai Weiwei

“I think Allen [Ginsberg] was a person who's like a child.”

Thinking Children Persons Ginsberg

Author:Ai Weiwei

“I never saw [Allen Ginsberg] as some kind of crazy figure.”

Kind Saws Crazy Figures Ginsberg

Author:Ai Weiwei

“I saw [Allen Ginsberg] more as an old man who liked poetry and who had a lot of physical and emotional problems. We liked our time together.”

Men Problem Together Saws Emotional Our Time Old Man Time Together Ginsberg Emotional Problems Our Time Together

Author:Ai Weiwei

“I never really read Allen Ginsberg poetry, even though I have a book he gave me.”

Book Ginsberg

Author:Ai Weiwei

“Somehow, we [ Tan Dun and director Chen Kaige] were all privileged at the time; we could be outside of China. But at the moment, we had no sense of what the future was going to be like.”

Moments Directors China Privileged

Author:Ai Weiwei

About the Author

Born: August 28, 1957
Known for: Contemporary artist
Quotes: 341

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