I came back [to Beijing ] because that's the only time I had an excuse to come back, or otherwise I would never have a reason to come back.

My musician friends are banned from playing concerts in China because they share the same views as I do. My name cannot appear on the web, because my opinion is different from the Party.

My image of what a city should be - the super-rich and all the poor and desperate and the people who have some kind of a desire. It's a surviving game, people trying to survive on many different levels.

I curated this show [Shanghai Biennale ], I was by no means trying to shock people or be controversial.

Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it.

If a society cannot even support somebody like me, then people ask: Who is under protection then? That's why there is such support for me. It is not because I am so beautiful or I am so charming. People feel: This guy is fighting for us.

[Cultural departments] don't care about culture. Maybe they're the furthest from the people who understand culture.