Contemporary art and the [Communist] Party are an impossible situation. It’s like oil and water—they can never mix. - Ai Weiwei

I’ve never planned any part of my career—except being an artist. And I was pushed into that corner because I thought being an artist was the only way to have a little freedom.

You see a Party system that crushes down anybody who [has] different opinions, who has different ideas in their mind. Simply to have different opinions can cost someone their life. They can be put in jail, they can be silenced, and they can [disappear]. And the other people would take it, not giving support.

Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it. I don’t feel that much anger. I equally have a lot of joy.