Ai Weiwei quotes
Ai Weiwei
Birthdate: 28. August 1957
Ai Weiwei is a Chinese contemporary artist and activist. His father's original surname was written Jiang . Ai collaborated with Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron as the artistic consultant on the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Olympics. As a political activist, he has been highly and openly critical of the Chinese Government's stance on democracy and human rights. He has investigated government corruption and cover-ups, in particular the Sichuan schools corruption scandal following the collapse of so-called "tofu-dreg schools" in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. In 2011, following his arrest at Beijing Capital International Airport on 3 April, he was held for 81 days without any official charges being filed; officials alluded to their allegations of "economic crimes".
Quotes Ai Weiwei
„Without freedom of speech, there is no modern world, just a barbaric one.“
2000-09
Variant: Without freedom of speech, there is no modern world, just a barbaric one.
„But every penny they borrowed or made from China has really come as a result of how this nation sacrificed everybody’s rights. With globalization and the Internet, we all know it.“
interview in Newsweek, 21 November 2011.
2010-, 2011
Context: Today, the West feels very shy about human rights and the political situation. They’re in need of money. But every penny they borrowed or made from China has really come as a result of how this nation sacrificed everybody’s rights. With globalization and the Internet, we all know it. Don’t pretend you don’t know it. The Western politicians—shame on them if they say they’re not responsible for this. It’s getting worse, and it will keep getting worse.
„You know, if they can do this to me they can do this to anybody, and they have been doing this for over sixty years.... it’s a very strange world.“
2010-, You’re There but You’re Not Existing, 2012
„The Internet is uncontrollable. And if the Internet is uncontrollable, freedom will win. It’s as simple as that.“
2010-, China’s Censorship Can Never Defeat the Internet, 2012
„I often think what I’m saying is for the people who never had a chance to be heard.“
2000-09, Truth to Power, 2009
„The Olympics are an opportunity to redefine the country, but the message is always wrong.“
2000-09, Happiness Can’t Be Faked, 2008
„At midnight they can come into your room and take you away. They can put a black hood on you, take you to a secret place and interrogate you, trying to stop what you’re doing. They threaten people, your family, saying: 'Your children won’t find jobs.“
2010-, China’s Censorship Can Never Defeat the Internet, 2012
„The frustration mainly comes from trying to understand what they really want. Also, you cannot understand how can such a large nation maintain its so-called stability by doing something very unlawful. I mean, how can they possibly manage to stabilize the whole social condition by not [acting with] justice and fairness.“
2010-, You’re There but You’re Not Existing, 2012
„A small act is worth a million thoughts.“
2000-09, Meet the Most Interesting Person in China, 2009
„The Sichuan disaster is not the first nor the most wrongful. But all the details of this tragedy will be forgotten, and once again it will be like nothing ever happened. Eventually all these disasters will together create a bizarre miracle called civilization and evolution.“
2000-09, Our Duty Is to Remember Sichuan, 2009
