Organisers said Ai’s large-scale show would take over Aviva Studios’ Warehouse space as he explores 200 years of world history.
The exhibition will incorporate materials such as antique timber, porcelain, cotton, glass and bronze, and will bring new and existing large-scale work together, on display in the UK for the first time.
Ai, who was born in 1957 in Beijing, is the first artist living and working in the Asia-Pacific region to be commissioned for the series.
He has played a key role in contemporary Chinese art over the last two decades, and has been highly vocal about human rights issues.