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Writings on human life and the refugee crisis by the most important political artist of our time. Ai Weiwei (b.1957) is widely known as an artist across media: sculpture, installation, photography, performance, and architecture. He is also one of the world's most important artist-activists and a powerful documentary filmmaker. His work and art call attention to attacks on democracy and free speech, abuses of human rights, and human displacement--often on an epic, international scale.This collection of quotations demonstrates the range of Ai Weiwei's thinking on humanity and mass migration, issues that have occupied him for decades. Selected from articles, interviews, and conversations, Ai Weiwei's words speak to the profound urgency of the global refugee crisis, the resilience and vulnerability of the human condition, and the role of art in providing a voice for the voiceless.Select quotations from the book:\"This problem has such a long history, a human history. We are all refugees somehow, somewhere, and at some moment.\" \"Allowing borders to determine your thinking is incompatible with the modern era.\" \"Art is about aesthetics, about morals, about our beliefs in humanity. Without that there is simply no art.\" \"I don't care what all people think. My work belongs to the people who have no voice.\"

In 2006, even though he could barely type, China's most famous artist started blogging. For more than three years, Ai Weiwei turned out a steady stream of scathing social commentary, criticism of government policy, thoughts on art and architecture, and autobiographical writings. He wrote about the Sichuan earthquake (and posted a list of the schoolchildren who died because of the government's \"tofu-dregs engineering\"), reminisced about Andy Warhol and the East Village art scene, described the irony of being investigated for \"fraud\" by the Ministry of Public Security, made a modest proposal for tax collection. Then, on June 1, 2009, Chinese authorities shut down the blog. This book offers a collection of Ai's notorious online writings translated into English--the most complete, public documentation of the original Chinese blog available in any language.The New York Times called Ai \"a figure of Warholian celebrity.\" He is a leading figure on the international art scene, a regular in museums and biennials, but in China he is a manifold and controversial presence: artist, architect, curator, social critic, justice-seeker. He was a consultant on the design of the famous \"Bird's Nest\" stadium but called for an Olympic boycott; he received a Chinese Contemporary Art \"lifetime achievement award\" in 2008 but was beaten by the police in connection with his \"citizen investigation\" of earthquake casualties in 2009. Ai Weiwei's Blog documents Ai's passion, his genius, his hubris, his righteous anger, and his vision for China.

This collection of quotes demonstrates the elegant simplicity of Ai Weiwei's thoughts on key aspects of his art, politics, and life. A master at communicating powerful ideas in astonishingly few words, Ai Weiwei is known for his innovative use of social media to disseminate his views. The short quotations presented here have been carefully selected from articles, tweets, and interviews given by this acclaimed Chinese artist and activist. The book is organized into six categories: freedom of expression; art and activism; government, power, and moral choices; the digital world; history, the historical moment, and the future; and personal reflections. Together, these quotes span some of the most revealing moments of Ai Weiwei's eventful career--from his risky investigation into student deaths in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake to his arbitrary arrest in 2011--providing a window into the mind of one of the world's most electrifying and courageous contemporary artists. Select Quotes from the Book: On Freedom of Expression \"Say what you need to say plainly, and then take responsibility for it.\"\"A small act is worth a million thoughts.\"\"Liberty is about our rights to question everything.\" On Art and Activism \"Everything is art. Everything is politics.\"\"The art always wins. Anything can happen to me, but the art will stay.\"\"Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it. I don't feel that much anger. I equally have a lot of joy.\" On Government, Power, and Making Moral Choices \"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 feel powerless all the time, but I regain my energy by making a very small difference that won't cost me much.\"\"Tips on surviving the regime: Respect yourself and speak for others. Do one small thing every day to prove the existence of justice.\" On the Digital World \"Only with the Internet can a peasant I have never met hear my voice and I can learn what's on his mind. A fairy tale has come true.\"\"The Internet is uncontrollable. And if the Internet is uncontrollable, freedom will win. It's as simple as that.\"\"The Internet is the best thing that could have happened to China.\" On History, the Historical Moment, and the Future \"If a nation cannot face its past, it has no future.\"\"We need to get out of the old language.\"\"The world is a sphere, there is no East or West.\" Personal Reflections \"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.\"\"Anyone fighting for freedom does not want to totally lose their freedom.\"\"Expressing oneself is like a drug. I'm so addicted to it.\"

The urgent, first book from global phenomenon Joshua Wong - leader of the Hong Kong protests, Nobel prize nominee and TIME, Forbes and Fortune world leader - who will tell us how he took on the biggest country in the world, and why we all have a stake in the global fight for democracy. Introduction by Ai WeiweiAn urgent manifesto for global democracy from the leading 23-year-old Hong Kong activist - Nobel Peace Prize nominee and TIME, Forbes and Fortune world leader. At what point do you stand up to power?Age 14, Joshua Wong made history. While the adults stayed silent, Joshua staged the first ever student protest in Hong Kong to oppose National Education - and won. Since then Joshua founded Demosisto, led the Umbrella Revolution and spearheaded the Extradition Bill protests, which have seen an estimated 2 million people - more than a quarter of the population - take to Hong Kong's streets. His actions have sparked worldwide attention, a Nobel Peace Prize nomination and over 100 days in jail. In Unfree Speech, Joshua tells his story for the first time. Composed in three parts, Joshua chronicles his path to politics, collects the letters he wrote as a political prisoner under the Chinese state, and closes with a powerful and urgent call for all of us around the world to defend our democratic rights. Hong Kong is the canary in the coal mine. When we stay silent, no-one is safe: when we free our speech, they can't stop all of us

\"An urgent manifesto for global democracy from Joshua Wong, the twenty-three-year-old phenomenon leading Hong Kong's protests, and Nobel Peace Prize nominee\"-- Provided by publisher.

\"'Everything is art. Everything is politics.' The internationally renowned contemporary artist Ai Weiwei thus sums up the concepts underlying his work. It is also the leitmotif of his largest exhibition to date in Europe. With texts and images, this catalog demonstrates the close interweaving of political commitment and artistic work in the ¶uvre of this important, controversial artist who lends form to the contradictions of our present times. Born in Beijing in 1957, Ai Weiwei is celebrated worldwide as an artist, architect, curator, film director, and photographer. The Conceptual and Pop art he countered in New York in the 1980s became crucial influences on his working method, which critically examins cultural history and global social developments.\" --Publisher's description, lower cover.