Ai WeiWei : Button Up! – The Warehouse, Aviva Studios, Manchester

Artist: Ai Weiwei

As the name suggests ‘The Warehouse’ is a vast space compelling Aviva Studios to find large-scale exhibitions which make the best use of such capacity. Button Up! from Ai WeiWei certainly fulfils this objective.  The installation includes two new commissions and other large-scale works by the artist on show in the UK for the first time. There is also, on 3^rd July, 2026, WeiWei’s first durational performance work re-enacting his experience of secret detention.

The first installation which greets the audience upon entry to the Warehouse is the new work History of Bombs which covers the entire short wall of the rectangular hall and was assembled by volunteers in Manchester and craftspeople in China. From a distance there is a cruel beauty in the sleek display of shiny silver bombs against a deep black background as if taken from a shopping catalogue.  An unusual feature of Button Up! is that the audience is allowed to get very close to the displays so it is possible to discover the installation is not a painting but is actually made entirely from toy bricks; 3.5 million of them to be exact, each measuring about half a centimetre, in coloured shades of white, black grey and sliver. The use of a child’s toys to construct a display of weapons adds to the obscenity of the exhibit.

The largest installation, running along the entire long wall of the rectangle is the first appearance in the UK of Law of the Journey; a 47metre long inflatable migrant boat containing hundreds of human figures.  The craft and passengers are both constructed out of the rubberised material used to build dinghies as if to demonstrate the refugees are regarded as objects rather than people.

Button Up! offers Ai WeiWei the opportunity to expand upon his established works. Discarded figures from Law of the Journey are stacked carelessly and with no regard for dignity under La Commedia Umana; a black Murano glass chandelier made up of over 2,000 pieces and weighing nearly 3 tonnes. It is a Gothic masterpiece with human skulls, bones and organs commemorating the dark comedy of life with the positioning adding to the power of WeiWei’s previous work.

WeiWei’s activism is present in many of the works even if not in an obvious manner. A Porcelain Pillar with Refugee Motif, as the name suggests, comprises a stack of half-a- dozen porcelain vases. However, the visual motif on each concerns the challenges facing refugees- war, ruin, journey and so on.

The second new installation Eight-Nation Alliance Flags hangs in the centre of the hall. WeiWei uses the flags to draw a link between the eight nations which, in the early 20^th century, combined to invade Japan and the history of Manchester and its association with the cotton industry. The flags are made from millions of buttons; amusingly WeiWei acquired 30 tonnes of buttons from a bankrupt firm in Croydon on the off-chance they would be useful and used four million of them to painstakingly hand-sew the flags.

Artists are not known for having a sense of humour but there is some irreverence in WeiWei’s works. Coloured Mirror features a Qing Dynasty mirror discoloured by a splash of paint. There is a literal tone to Teahouse as the sculpture, of buildings and surrounding grounds, is made from compressed tea.  However, the Pu-erh tea used for the sculpture gains value as it matures so, as the artwork is fermenting, it could be argued its value is increasing. There is even a display of Mazha– folding stools which combine purpose and artistry and also provide a handy place to sit and take notes.

Ai WeiWei’s political activism is not without cost and, in 2011; he was detained by Public Security for 81 days. This experience forms the basis of Sewing a Button; co-created with Low Kee Hong and featuring the artist himself, it is intended to give the audience the chance to observe as WeiWei goes through the mundane, humiliating and horrific experience of incarceration. The event, scheduled for 3^rd July, lasts 24 hours of which each 17 minutes represents a single day. Audiences can book for two-hour slots (described as Interrogation, Reflection or Dreaming) or the entire performance and watch Ai WeiWei in a reconstruction of the gaol cell in which he was held. Observation will be via CCTV camera in the Hall and extracts will be broadcast on The Factory website.

This is a full performance piece rather than a solo show; nine actors will take on the role of military police and doctors and journalists and broadcasters will undertake the interrogation. A traditional tearoom will be open throughout the event and one would imagine it will do a roaring trade.   It is not unusual for artists to use their life experience to inspire art but Ai WeiWei’s willingness to re-live such a harrowing event is impressive.

Button Up! is both awe-inspiring and intimate. The sheer size of the installations demands leisurely contemplation and Aviva Studios offers also the rare opportunity to get close enough to study the craftsmanship involved in their construction and appreciate the meticulous work. The forthcoming Sewing a Button presents an artist offering themselves at their most vulnerable and so gives audiences the chance to experience events which shaped their principles and work.

Runs until 6^th September 2026