By @jolawsontancred
Publication Date: 2026-01-21 18:20:00
Since 2019, the art world has been wondering what artist Ai Weiwei planned to do with 30 tons of old buttons he rescued from a closed British factory. This summer, the artist will finally reveal the answer in a new exhibition in which millions of these humble fasteners resurface as monumental works confronting imperial history and industrial capitalism.
To bridge more than 200 years of history, from British industrial imperialism to China’s place in today’s globalized world, Ai once again draws on ordinary objects that, reproduced en masse, become a powerful symbol of a much more complex network of forces. The exhibition, titled “Button Up!” opens July 2 at Factory International in Manchester, England, the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. The artist will transform the former warehouse with large-scale installations made from – you guessed it – buttons and more than 3.5 million Lego bricks.
“The…
