Ai Weiwei on Independence Day
born 1957 China
← All quotes by Ai Weiwei
13 quotes
If there is no freedom of expression, then the beauty of life is lost. Participation in a society is not an artistic choice, it’s a human need.
I think restrictions are an essential condition in the fight for freedom of expression. It’s also a source for any kind of creativity.
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.
A land that rejects the truth, barricades itself against change and lacks the spirit of freedom is hopeless.
I think it’s a responsibility for any artist to protect freedom of expression and to use any way to extend this power.
Without freedom of speech, there is no modern world, just a barbaric one.
Freedom of speech implies the world isn’t defined. It is meaningful when people are allowed to see the world their way.
Anyone fighting for freedom does not want to totally lose their freedom.
Once you’ve tasted freedom, it stays in your heart and no one can take it. Then, you can be more powerful than a whole country.
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?"
A city is a place that can offer maximum freedom. Otherwise it’s incomplete.
China [is a] society which forbids any flow of the information and freedom of speech. This is on record, so everybody should know this.
The Internet is uncontrollable. And if the Internet is uncontrollable, freedom will win. It’s as simple as that.