AI Weiwei’s Next Act Is a 30-Ton Button Installation

Summary

• Renowned artist Ai Weiwei turns his 30-ton button collection into eight massive flags for Button Up!, a new exhibition in Manchester
• Opening this summer, the show features “Eight-Nation Alliance Flags,” a new body of textiles, alongside a 2D version of “History of Bombs,” composed of 3.5 million Lego bricks

In 2019, Ai Weiwei bought out the entire stock of A Brown and Co Buttons, a defunct South London textile factory, leaving many to wonder: what was the artist planning to do with 30 tons of buttons? After the standout “F.U.C.K.” installation at Lisson in 2024, Ai’s fascination with the everyday object continues to unravel, and is set to take center stage in the forthcoming, aptly-titled Button Up! exhibition at Manchester’s Factory International come July 2.

The ex-warehouse venue will host “Eight-Nation Alliance Flags,” a new body of textiles. Made for the space, the installation probes into the history of industrialization and globalization through the fabric of material culture. Each flag is made from 9,000 buttons, meticulously sewn, netted and assembled by a team of women artisans in Shandong, China, where the collection has been stored for the last several years. Together, the bits and pieces of porcelain, cotton, glass and bronze tell a story of  consumption in globalized world. In addition to the flags, the exhibition will debut an 80-foot 2D version of Ai’s famed “History of Bombs,” made entirely of Lego bricks.

“Visiting the city for this exhibition – the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution – and reflecting on Britain’s global territorial expansion made me realize I had to explore that history and understand how it connects to the forces driving today’s wars and global crises,” the artist said in a recent statement.

The work link ideas of labor and industrial capitalism, namely between England and China, through textile history. It references the eight national alliance countries – Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the U.S. and, at the time, Austria-Hungary– that invaded China to quell its 1900 Boxer Rebellion, which aimed to squash Western influence.

This question of access to clothing also hold personal significance for the artist, Low Kee Hong, the creative director of Factory International, told The Times. While held prisoner in China, Ai waited a month to secure approval for a needle and thread to mend torn trousers, “and even then armed guards came in and stood watching him”.

Ai, known for pushing the envelope of activism through large-scale artworks, considers the past a clairvoyant reflection of our present and impending future: “The world today is deeply divided, with tragedy all around,” he continued. Understanding history goes hand in hand with standing up for truth and justice.”

Button Up! is set to open on July 2 and will remain on view through September 6. Head to Factory International’s website to book your tickets today.

Factory International
Water St,
Manchester M3 4JQ,
United Kingdom