{"id":254015,"date":"2026-01-27T10:56:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T10:56:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/254015\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T10:56:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T10:56:20","slug":"ai-weiwei-says-he-wants-to-bring-monumental-work-to-manchester-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/254015\/","title":{"rendered":"Ai Weiwei says he wants to bring ‘monumental’ work to Manchester"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GettyGetty Images<\/p>\n

Ai Weiwei will take over Aviva Studios in Manchester later this year<\/p>\n

Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei said he was planning a “monumental” work in Manchester for his first major show in the north of England.<\/p>\n

The 68-year-old, best known for working on the design of Beijing’s Olympic stadium and filling the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall in London with hand-crafted porcelain sunflower seeds in 2010, will lead Aviva Studios’ spring\/summer exhibitions.<\/p>\n

Factory International said the world-renowned artist’s exhibition would focus on British imperialism, Chinese-British relations and the rise of globalisation.<\/p>\n

“I’m not interested in making very big things just for the sake of it,” said Ai. “But in Manchester, that wonderful Warehouse space calls for monumental work.”<\/p>\n

\"Aviva<\/p>\n

Ai Weiwei will be at the centre of Factory International’s spring\/summer season in Manchester<\/p>\n

Organisers said Ai’s large-scale show would take over Aviva Studios’ Warehouse space as he explores 200 years of world history.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

He has played a key role in contemporary Chinese art over the last two decades, and has been highly vocal about human rights issues.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Ai Weiwei once filled the Tate with millions of porcelain sunflower seeds<\/p>\n

He said: “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.<\/p>\n

“The world today is deeply divided, with tragedy all around. Understanding history goes hand in hand with standing up for truth and justice.”<\/p>\n

Ai Weiwei: Button Up! will run from 2 July to 6 September at Aviva Studios in Manchester<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Images Ai Weiwei will take over Aviva Studios in Manchester later this year Chinese artist and activist…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254016,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,501,156,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-254015","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-new-zealand","15":"tag-newzealand","16":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}