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.

“I don’t see myself as a dissident artist. I see them as a dissident government!”

Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei Twitter feed: @AiWW (January 25, 2012)
2010-, Twitter feeds, 2010-12

“I have no sense of why I lost my freedom and if you do not know how you lost something, how can you protect it?”

Ai Weiwei

2010-, Living in Fear Is Worse Than Imprisonment, 2012

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

Ai Weiwei

2010-, China’s ‘Mozart’ Drops Off State Hit Parade, 2010

“I lost all connection with the outside world and was immersed in a world of darkness. I was scared that my existence would fade silently. No one knew where I was, and no one would ever know. I was just like a small soybean—once fallen to the ground, it rolls into a crack in the corner. Being unable to make any sounds, it will forever be forgotten.”

Ai Weiwei

Wong, Veronica, and Gisela Sommer. “ Ai Weiwei Describes Mental Torment in Captivity http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/china-news/ai-weiwei-describes-mental-torment-in-captivity-59915.html.” Epoch Times, August 3, 2011. <br class="br">2010-, 2011

“In China, there is a long history of the government not revealing information, so it’s difficult for the Chinese people to ever know the truth. It is vital that we try to bring that truth to life.”

Ai Weiwei

2000-09, An Artist’s Ordeal. 2009

“A society that has no ideals, that discards the principles of humanitarianism, that abandons the fundamental rights and dignity of humanity, can only survive by denying truth, fairness and justice.”

Ai Weiwei

2000-09, Our Duty Is to Remember Sichuan, 2009

“We have to give our opinion, we have to say something, or we are a part of it. As an artist I am forced to say something.”

Ai Weiwei

2000-09, Ai Weiwei, Nursing Head Wound, Sharpens Criticism, 2009

“Writers, artists, and commentators on websites are detained or thrown into jail when they reflect on democracy, opening up, reform and reason. This is the reality of China.”

Ai Weiwei

Higgins, Charlotte. " Ai Weiwei: ‘China in many ways is just like the middle ages http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/apr/11/ai-weiwei-china-last-interview." Guardian.co.uk., April 11, 2011. <br class="br">2010-, 2011