Ai Weiwei: Button Up!

2 Jul - 6 Sep 2026 Become a member for priority booking

Date: 2 Jul - 6 Sep 2026
Venue: The Warehouse, Aviva Studios, Water Street, Manchester, M3 4JQ
Tickets: Earlybird Offer: £15
Standard from: £20
Concessions available including Aviva £10 Tickets*
A booking fee of £1.50 applies to all tickets.

We sell tickets for exhibition slots every hour on:

Tuesdays – Sundays, 10am – 6pm

Thursdays, 10am – 8pm

We have free essential companion tickets available for wheelchair users and disabled visitors. We do not require proof to book an essential companion ticket with your access ticket.

Essential companion tickets are free with a wheelchair, disabled, BSL, captioned or audio description ticket at any price point, including £10 and concession price tickets. Essential companion tickets are intended for people for whom it would be significantly difficult to access our venue without support from another person.

To book access tickets please call 0161 817 4531 (Tuesday to Friday, 10am to 6pm) or email access@factoryinternational.org or book online. For more instructions, please visit How To Book Access Tickets.

Be one of the first through the doors to see Button Up! - book for the first two weeks of the exhibition and get discounted tickets from £15.

Our affordable ticket options for Ai Weiwei: Button Up! include:

Aviva £10 Tickets. We're offering £10 tickets from Tuesdays to Thursdays for people who may otherwise be unable to attend, supported by Aviva.

Concession tickets. Students, those on Universal Credit or Pension Credit and children can get up to 25% discount across the exhibition.

For information about Aviva £10 Tickets and concessions visit our Affordable Ticketing page.

Under 14s must be accompanied by an adult aged 18+. Younger children need to be supervised in the space and we ask that parents are considerate of the experience for all our guests.

Become a member for priority booking

Suitable for all ages. Anyone under the age of 14 must be accompanied by an adult aged 18+

Accessibility features available for this event: Audio Description Relaxed Performance Reduced Capacity Wheelchair Access

History, power and empire collide in Button Up! – a major new exhibition from the world-leading artist and activist Ai Weiwei

Internationally renowned artist and activist Ai Weiwei turns his critical gaze to the last 200 years of global history with this major new exhibition. Monumental in scale and ambition, Ai Weiwei: Button Up! is the artist’s most expansive presentation in the North to date.

Ai Weiwei is known around the world for his uncompromising artistic vision and political activism. From a childhood in exile to surviving secret detention in China, his remarkable life and career have led him to global prominence. Using sculpture, installation, film, photography and architecture, his work is unafraid to ask urgent, critical questions.

In Button Up!, the artist turns his lens on two centuries of Chinese and British relations. Taking inspiration from Manchester, a city at the heart of the Industrial Revolution, Button Up! explores how historic systems of trade, empire and exploitation resonate in today’s humanitarian and political crises.

Conceived as a total environment, Ai Weiwei: Button Up! brings together new and existing large-scale works on display in the UK for the first time. The monumental installation features porcelain, cotton, glass, bronze and even buttons and toy bricks. Each material contains a story of human invention and consumption. Together, they paint a picture of globalisation.

Both global and personal, the title Button Up! is a playful poke at the artist’s ongoing battle with censorship. The exhibition also features the world premiere of a new body of work created especially for the vast spaces of the Warehouse – Eight-Nation Alliance Flags made from hundreds of thousands of buttons, as well as a new version of History Of Bombs made entirely from toy bricks.

Button Up! immerses visitors in Ai Weiwei’s fearless interrogation of the forces past and present that drive today’s injustices – while championing art’s enduring power to challenge and inspire.

“I’m not interested in making very big things just for the sake of it. But in Manchester, that wonderful Warehouse space calls for monumental work. 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. The world today is deeply divided, with tragedy all around. Understanding history goes hand in hand with standing up for truth and justice.”

Ai Weiwei

Tickets

Onsale dates

Factory International members on sale: Tuesday 20 January, 10am

General tickets on sale: Tuesday 27 January, 10am

Early Bird Deal

Be one of the first through the doors to see Button Up! - book for the first two weeks of the exhibition and get discounted tickets from £15.

Aviva £10 Tickets and Concessions

Thanks to Aviva, we are offering £10 tickets Tuesdays to Thursdays for people who may otherwise be unable to attend.

Concession tickets (25% off) are also available throughout the run for students and those in receipt of Universal Credit or Pension Credit. Proof of eligibility may be requested.

To find out more about our affordable options, visit our Affordable Ticketing page.

For ticketing and box office related enquiries, please contact tickets@factoryinternational.org or call 0333 322 8679 (phone lines are open Tuesday to Friday, 10am to 6pm and 10am - 5pm Sunday 12 and 19 Jan).

For more information please visit Ticketing and Sale of Goods Terms & Conditions – Factory International

Credits

Commissioned and produced by Factory International.

Ai Weiwei photography: Gonçalo F. Santos

Artwork photography: Tom Carter

Artwork: Eight-Nation Alliance Flag (Russia), 2024, buttons, fabric. 490x750cm

Access information

Our full address is Aviva Studios, Water Street, Manchester M3 4JQ and the what3words is chop.feeds.chase.

You can approach Aviva Studios along Water Street (coming from Quay Street) or along Liverpool Road (coming from Deansgate or Castlefield). Both entrances to the building have double sets of glass doors.

Once inside Aviva Studios, there is step-free access to all areas of the venue. The flooring throughout the building is smooth concrete.

The entrance to the Warehouse is by lift or stairs from the Social. Two lifts and a staircase to the Warehouse are located in the Social opposite the bar.

The entrance to the Andrew Law Hall is by lift, escalator or stairs from one side of the Social beside the brick arches. There is only one escalator, and this will take you up to the Andrew Law Hall before the show, and will be reversed so that you can travel down at the end of the performance.

The Social has a range of seating, including those with arms and backs.

The bars in the Social and Hall Foyer have lowered accessible service points.

Our building is large. We have portable stools available to borrow if you would benefit from resting along the way during your visit.

We have wheelchair spaces and seats at standing events for all events.

There are accessible toilets on all public levels of our building.

Accessible toilets are located inside the main toilets space in the brick arches of the Social.

Here you’ll find a mixture of accessible cubicles with left- or right-hand transfer, towards the back of the space, as well as ambulant accessible cubicles with grab rails, as well as a Changing Places facility.

The toilets in the brick arches of the Social are split into male, female and gender neutral – all of which contain accessible cubicles. There are shared handwashing facilities in each arch – they have soap dispensers under the mirrors to your left and dryers to the right. There are separate handwashing facilities inside the accessible cubicles.

There are additional single-room accessible toilets located in both Hall Foyers, at stalls and circle level.

There are additional single-room accessible toilets located in the Warehouse Foyer.

You do not need a key to use the accessible toilets at Aviva Studios.

Assistance dogs are welcome in our building, and we can provide mats and water bowls on request, just ask a host when you arrive. We can also take care of your assistance dog if you do not want to take your dog into the performance space. Please also refer to our assistance dogs policy.

If you are bringing an assistance dog to a ticketed event, please let us know in advance by contacting access@factoryinternational.org or calling our access phone number: 0161 817 4531 (phone lines are open 10am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday).

To book access tickets and personal assistant tickets please call 0161 817 4531 (Monday-Saturday, 10am-6pm) or email access@factoryinternational.org

Access bookings can be made by email, phone or online. They are also available in person at Aviva Studios.

We know some of our visitors appreciate a space where they are able to experience the exhibition under more relaxed conditions. You may want to move more, stim freely, make noise, or need to take a break from the space. If this sounds like something you’d benefit from, why not book onto one of our relaxed slots?

Relaxed slots of Button Up! will take place on the following dates:

Saturday 11 July at 10am

Wednesday 22 July at 10am

Sunday 9 August at 10am

Tuesday 18 August at 10am

We know some of our visitors appreciate being able to experience an exhibition at quieter times. We have reduced capacity sessions available to book onto on the following dates:

Sunday 19 July at 10am

Friday 31 July at 10am

Thursday 13 August at 10am

Saturday 29 August at 10am

We know that visitors appreciate detailed information on the content of our exhibitions in order to make informed decisions and to prepare themselves or members of their party.

This exhibition speaks to themes concerning:

Forced displacement
Migration and related risk to life
Imprisonment (including interrogation)

This page will be continuously updated as the exhibition is designed and installed, and will be finalised on Wednesday 1 July.

If there are specific themes or technical effects not spoken to above that you are concerned about, please reach out to us by emailing access@factoryinternational.org or by giving us a call on 0161 817 4531.

Audio described tours of the exhibition will be delivered by Anne Hornsby of Mind’s Eye on the following dates:

Wednesday 15 July at 10am
Sunday 2 August at 10am
Tuesday 11 August at 10am
Saturday 22 August at 10am.

To book on to the audio described tour, please select the relevant ticket type at checkout or contact us by emailing access@factoryinternational.org or by giving us a call on 0161 817 4531.

On the day of your booking, please meet Anne at the Information Point located in the Social 15 minutes before your scheduled entry time.

In addition to in-person audio described tours, a pre-recorded audio described guide will be available to visitors for the duration of the exhibition. You do not need to pre-book this facility, simply head to the Information Point on arrival and ask for the audio described guide.

The exhibition content encourages visitors to move around the space. However, there will be some incidental seating (included seats with back and arm supports) available throughout the exhibition for those needing to rest or simply wanting to take in the space.

Portable stools will also be available to borrow for visitors who wish to take a seat with them around the exhibition.

The exhibition space is completely step-free and is accessed from the Social via a lift. It has been designed with clear pathways and lots of room between exhibits. The flooring throughout the building and in the exhibition space is smooth concrete.

A What to Expect Guide for Button Up! will be available to view and download from Wednesday 1 July onwards. Please return to this event page then if you wish to make use of this resource.

Printed versions will also be available to borrow from the Information Point on arrival.

Travel information

The building can be approached along Water Street (coming from Quay Street) or along Liverpool Road (coming from Deansgate or Castlefield).

There are a number of rail and tram stations within the city centre which are just a short distance from Aviva Studios. The closest stations are:

Salford Central rail station: 10-minute walk via Red Rose Way and Irwell Street.
Deansgate rail station and Deansgate-Castlefield tram stop: 12-minute walk via Liverpool Road.
St Peter’s Square tram stop: 15-minute walk via Quay Street.
Manchester Oxford Road rail station: 25-minute walk via Oxford Street/Quay Street.
Manchester Piccadilly and Victoria rail stations: Both stops have frequent trams operating to and from Deansgate-Castlefield tram stop.

By Bike

There are 40 bike parking spaces at Aviva Studios including space for two accessible bikes.

National Cycling Route 6 passes close to the venue and this TfGM webpage can help with route planning.

You can also hire bikes from on-street docking stations across the city centre. The closest docking stations to our venue are currently on Deansgate by Liverpool Road and (400m from the building) and by King Street (500m from the building). Take a look at Transport for Greater Manchester’s webpage for advice on cycle hire.

By Walking and Other Active Means

Aviva Studios can be approached along Water Street via Liverpool Road (coming from Deansgate or Castlefield).

If you're coming from Quay Street, the safest route to avoid construction works is via the cut-through opposite Gartside Street and past Booking.com.

All footways in the surrounding area are well lit and there are appropriate crossings across all main roads.

Pedestrians with visual impairment are recommended to approach the building via Water Street, from Liverpool Road. This route has traditional carriageway and footway design with fixed street furniture which should help with navigation to the entrance.

A footbridge at Left Bank in Spinningfields provides an accessible link across the River Irwell to Salford Central station, and a further footbridge also links Aviva Studios with the Salford area of Middlewood Locks.

Free bus

The free bus 1 service connects Piccadilly Station, Oxford Road and Deansgate rail stations, as well as other areas of the city centre to Aviva Studios.

The service stops on both Liverpool Road and Quay Street, close to the venue. Buses operate every 10 minutes during the day from Monday to Sunday and they are wheelchair accessible. For full details of the free bus 1 route and timetable, please visit the Bee Network website.

Bee Network services

Piccadilly Gardens is situated in the heart of Manchester and there are a number of bus services that will take you on to Aviva Studios. The 33 bus which starts at Shudehill, calls at Piccadilly Gardens and will take you straight to Liverpool Road. Services operate every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday and every hour on Sunday.

Alternatively, you can board either a 35, 36 or 38 bus to Bridge Street bus stop which is a seven-minute walk via Left Bank and Water Street to the venue.

Coming into Manchester Victoria rail station? Head on over to Shudehill Interchange (which is a seven-minute walk via Hanover Street) where you can catch the 33 bus to Liverpool Road.

Alternatively, you can board either an 8, 67 or 100 bus from Manchester Victoria to Bridge Street bus stop, which is a seven-minute walk via Left Bank and Water Street to the venue.

There is a NCP car park (Manchester Spinningfields) approximately 0.25 miles (400m) away from Aviva Studios at Spinningfields, New Quay Street, Manchester, M3 3BE. It has 35 accessible bays.

There are a small number of Blue Badge spaces along Water St and Quay St. Otherwise head towards Liverpool Road, Great John St and Lower Byrom St – close to our neighbours, the Science and Industry Museum where there are a small number of additional Blue Badge spaces.

For a list of other parking bays available in the area, visit Manchester City Council website.

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Ai Weiwei: Button Up!