Ai Weiwei will stage the first durational performance of his career this July, recreating his 81-day secret detention in China through a unique 24-hour live work at Aviva Studios in Manchester.
Titled Sewing a Button, the performance marks the 15th anniversary of the artist’s detention by China’s Public Security Bureau in 2011. Beginning at 5pm on 3rd July, audiences will be able to witness a continuous reconstruction of the routines that defined Ai’s imprisonment, including sleeping, eating, exercising, washing, writing and repeated interrogations.
The performance forms part of Ai Weiwei: Button Up!, the artist’s largest site-specific exhibition to date, which opens at Aviva Studios on 2 July and runs until 6 September 2026.
For the performance, a full-scale recreation of the detention cell where Ai was held has been constructed at Aviva Studios by architects Hawkins\Brown. Measuring 7.2 by 3.6 metres, the installation mirrors the confined environment where the artist was secretly detained for 81 days following his arrest at Beijing Capital International Airport in April 2011.
Visitors will experience the work from the perspective of surveillance, watching events unfold through live feeds from three CCTV cameras positioned around the cell, echoing the constant monitoring Ai endured throughout his imprisonment.
Joining Ai Weiwei is a cast of nine performers portraying military guards, doctors and interrogators. Throughout the 24 hours, the role of interrogator will also be performed by a number of well-known public figures, including broadcaster Nihal Arthanayake, writer and presenter Emma Dabiri, poet Lemn Sissay and journalist Zing Tsjeng.
Overnight, Manchester and Berlin-based electronic duo Space Afrika will contribute a live mixing session, while audiences will also have access to a programme of free overnight activities across Aviva Studios, including a traditional Chinese tea house that will remain open throughout the performance.
Although Ai Weiwei has frequently explored themes of surveillance, state power, censorship and human rights throughout his multidisciplinary practice, Sewing a Button marks the first time he has directly reenacted his detention through live performance.
The work takes its title from one of the seemingly mundane tasks that became charged with meaning during his imprisonment, transforming the repetitive routines of captivity into an extended act of public witness. Rather than reconstructing the political events surrounding his arrest, the performance focuses on the physical and psychological rhythms of incarceration, inviting audiences to spend time with experiences that are normally hidden from public view.
The 24-hour event also represents a significant first for Aviva Studios. Coinciding with the performance, Button Up! will remain open continuously, allowing visitors to experience the exhibition throughout the day and night for the first time.
By revisiting one of the defining moments of his life through endurance, repetition and surveillance, Sewing a Button extends Ai Weiwei’s longstanding investigation into freedom, authority and the politics of visibility—turning personal memory into a shared public experience.
Sewing a Button: Ai Weiwei re-enacts his secret detention in Sewing a Button – an unflinching 24-hour live performance Book Tickets
