Ai Weiwei's 'Button Up!' at Factory International: A Critical Review
Ai Weiwei's exhibition 'Button Up!' at Factory International's Aviva Studios in Manchester runs from July 2 to September 6, 2026, and examines how industrialization has influenced colonization and contemporary conflict. Among the highlights is 'History of Bombs' (2019/25), a towering 9-meter mosaic crafted from 50 bombs using Chinese Woma toy bricks, assembled by 308 volunteers. The piece 'Eight-Nation Alliance Flags' (2024) employs buttons to recreate the flags from the 1900–01 invasion of China. Another notable work, 'Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads' (2010), features bronze animal heads looted from the Yuanmingyuan palace in Beijing. Additionally, 'Wang Family Ancestral Hall' (2015) showcases a disassembled temple on pu-erh tea leaves, while 'Nian Nian (Commemoration)' (2021) honors the 5,197 students lost in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Critic Chloe Chu highlights Ai's use of propaganda-like strategies.
Key facts
- Exhibition 'Button Up!' runs July 2–September 6, 2026 at Factory International's Aviva Studios, Manchester.
- Features 'History of Bombs' (2019/25), a 9-meter-tall, 25-meter-wide mosaic of 50 bombs made from Woma toy bricks, assembled by 308 volunteers over 11 months.
- 'Eight-Nation Alliance Flags' (2024) uses buttons to recreate flags of the Eight-Nation Alliance, referencing the 1900–01 invasion of China.
- 'Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads' (2010) recreates bronze animal heads looted from Beijing's Yuanmingyuan palace in 1860.
- 'Wang Family Ancestral Hall' (2015) presents a dismantled temple from Jiangxi province on pu-erh tea leaves; curator Cui Cancan notes the family prospered until CCP land reforms in 1950.
- 'Nian Nian (Commemoration)' (2021) features recordings of volunteers reciting names of 5,197 students killed in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.
- Ai Weiwei was imprisoned for 81 days in 2011 after investigating the school collapse.
- Critic Chloe Chu wrote the review, noting contradictions in Ai's practice but praising his moral compass.
Entities
Artists
- Ai Weiwei
- Marina Abramović
- Tan Zuoren
- Ai Qing
Institutions
- Factory International
- Aviva Studios
- Tang Contemporary
- The Art Newspaper
- Cambridge University
- Manchester International Festival
- Ai Weiwei Studio
- National Gallery Prague
- Tang Contemporary Art
- Public Security
- Aesthetica Magazine
- A Brown & Co Buttons factory
- Wallpaper*
- A Brown & Co Buttons
- Public Security (China)
Locations
- Manchester
- United Kingdom
- China
- Beijing
- Jiangxi
- Shandong
- Croydon
- Russia
- Japan
- France
- Germany
- United States
- Italy
- Austria-Hungary
- Portugal
- London
- Cambridge
- Prague
- Czech Republic
- Sichuan
- Water Street, Manchester, M3 4JQ
- New York
- Britain
- Beijing Capital International Airport