Ai Weiwei has transformed Aviva Studios in Manchester with Ai Weiwei: Button Up!, the artist’s largest site-specific exhibition to date, bringing together monumental new commissions, major UK premieres and a 24-hour live performance examining power, history and resistance.
Presented by Factory International, the exhibition runs from 2nd July to 6th September 2026 and spans the breadth of Ai Weiwei’s practice, from sculpture, ceramics and film to live performance. Developed specifically for the vast Warehouse space at Aviva Studios, the exhibition explores the legacies of British imperialism, globalisation and the complex relationship between Britain and China.
Ai Weiwei said:
“I’m not interested in making very big things just for the sake of it. But in Manchester, that wonderful Warehouse space calls for monumental work. Visiting the city for this exhibition – the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution – and reflecting on Britain’s global territorial expansion made me realise I had to explore that history and understand how it connects to the forces driving today’s wars and global crises. The world today is deeply divided, with tragedy all around. Understanding history goes hand in hand with standing up for truth and justice.”
Created especially for Manchester are two monumental new works. Eight-Nation Alliance Flags comprises eight vast flags made from almost four million buttons, revisiting the military alliance that invaded China during the Boxer Rebellion at the turn of the twentieth century. The buttons were sourced from the remaining stock of Croydon manufacturer A Brown & Co Buttons before its closure, linking Britain’s industrial past with China’s manufacturing present.
Alongside it is History of Bombs, a colossal 25-metre-wide mural constructed from 3.5 million toy bricks depicting life-sized conventional and nuclear weapons. Developed from Ai Weiwei’s earlier History of Bombs installation, it is now his largest toy-brick artwork to date and was realised with volunteers in Manchester alongside craftspeople in China.
The exhibition also brings together several of the artist’s best-known large-scale works, many appearing in the UK for the first time. These include Law of the Journey (2017), the 49-metre inflatable refugee boat filled with hundreds of human figures; Wang Family Ancestral Hall (2015), a painstaking reconstruction of a Ming Dynasty temple using 1,500 original timber components; La Commedia Umana (2017–21), a three-tonne Murano glass chandelier composed of more than 2,000 individual pieces; and Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads (2010), Ai Weiwei’s reinterpretation of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac.
Running alongside the exhibition is Sewing a Button, a unique 24-hour live performance taking place from 3rd–4th July. Marking fifteen years since Ai Weiwei’s secret detention by Chinese authorities in 2011, the work recreates the conditions of his 81-day imprisonment for the first time. Audiences witness the artist sleeping, eating, exercising, washing, writing and undergoing interrogation inside a reconstruction of his prison cell, while footage is simultaneously broadcast throughout Aviva Studios and online.
The title Button Up! references both the industrial history of Manchester and Ai Weiwei’s continuing engagement with censorship, drawing together materials including porcelain, timber, bronze, glass and cotton to examine how systems of empire, manufacturing and trade continue to shape today’s political landscape.
John McGrath, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Factory International, said:
“Factory International is thrilled to present this major exhibition by Ai Weiwei and we look forward to welcoming visitors this summer. Having the largest works of Ai Weiwei’s career shown alongside each other would only be possible in the vast, flexible space of Aviva Studios.”
Low Kee Hong, Creative Director of Factory International, added:
“We are thrilled that Ai Weiwei is creating new works for Aviva Studios and is taking the history of manufacturing in Manchester as a starting point to explore today’s politics. To present both new artwork alongside his first ever durational performance means audiences can truly experience the fearless interplay between the personal and political in Weiwei’s work.”
Alongside the exhibition, Aviva Studios’ Social space has been transformed into a traditional Chinese tea room, with a programme of talks, tea ceremonies, calligraphy workshops, Tai Chi classes and screenings of Ai Weiwei’s films taking place throughout the summer.
All images: Installation view of Ai Weiwei Button Up at Aviva Studios. Photo Hugo Glendinning
Ai Weiwei: Button Up!, 2nd July–6th September 2026, The Warehouse, Aviva Studios
Tickets from £15
Ai Weiwei: Artist Talk, 2nd July 2026, The Hall, Aviva Studios
Standard tickets from £25, Concessions and limited Aviva £10 tickets available
Sewing a Button, 5PM on 3rd July – 5PM on 4th July 2026, The Hall, Aviva Studios
Tickets from £15; 24-hour ticket £68. Concessions and limited Aviva £10 tickets available
INFO + TICKETS: factoryinternational.org
About the artist
Ai Weiwei is one of the most influential artists of his generation, working across sculpture, installation, film, photography, architecture and social practice to examine the political, cultural and humanitarian issues shaping the contemporary world. Combining traditional craftsmanship with conceptual strategies, Ai’s work explores themes of power, freedom of expression, migration, history and human rights, often transforming familiar objects and materials into powerful reflections on identity, memory and global society.
Throughout his career, Ai has consistently blurred the boundaries between art and activism. His practice frequently responds to real-world events, from investigations into the 2008 Sichuan earthquake to large-scale works addressing the global refugee crisis, while earlier pieces challenged authority through provocative gestures such as Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn and Study of Perspective. Whether working with bicycles, porcelain, ancient timber, trees or architectural structures, Ai uses material and symbolism to question systems of power, cultural heritage and collective responsibility.
Equally recognised as an architect, filmmaker and public intellectual, Ai has expanded contemporary art beyond the gallery through ambitious public commissions, architectural collaborations and documentary filmmaking. His projects frequently unite historical craft traditions with urgent contemporary concerns, creating works that are both visually compelling and politically resonant. Across every medium, his practice is driven by a belief in art’s capacity to provoke dialogue, challenge authority and defend freedom of expression.
Ai has exhibited extensively at major museums and biennials worldwide, including Tate Modern, the Royal Academy of Arts, the Brooklyn Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum, the Venice Biennale and, most recently, Factory International’s Ai Weiwei: Button Up! at Aviva Studios in Manchester. His work has received numerous international honours, including the Praemium Imperiale for Sculpture and Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award, reflecting both his artistic achievements and his longstanding commitment to human rights.
