Artist hails Manchester's 'amazing' culture as exhibition begins
BBCAn acclaimed artist has hailed Manchester for "achieving something amazing here", when describing the city's flagship Aviva Studios.
Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, who has created political sculptures, photographs, and other public works, made the comments as he launched a new exhibition of his work at the venue, which explores themes including global relationships and the consequences of war.
"I've never experienced a similar space in my life and that was a challenge, so I studied the history of Manchester, including its role as the world's first industrial city," he said.
"I never dreamed I would come to Manchester but this city has openness and ambition when its comes to promoting art and culture. It's really admirable"
The exhibition includes a giant 160ft (49m) inflatable black dinghy, with dozens of dummy figures, representing refugees.
There are also eight imperial flags, made with four million buttons, representing the countries which invaded China in response to the Boxer Rebellion of 1899–1901.
On the north side of the warehouse there is a giant mural called History of Bombs, which was made with 3.5 million lego bricks.
Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the building there is a Ming-dynasty timber-framed great hall, which has been reassembled to symbolise the greatness of Chinese history.
Ai Weiwei was born in Beijing in 1957 and is best known for designing the landmark "birds nest" stadium when the Olympic Games took place in his home city in 2008.
The artist, who is also known for his political activism, and will take part in a performance piece to mark the launch of the exhibition in Manchester, which will recreate his 81-day detention by the Chinese authorities in 2011.
He said: "The world today is deeply divided, with tragedy all around. Understanding history goes hand in hand with standing up for truth and justice."
The Ai Weiwei: Button Up! exhibition is taking place at the flagship £240m arts centre which opened in the city centre in 2023.
The building launched with a similar large-scale exhibition by the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, which featured polka-dot spheres, inflatable dolls and giant balloons.
John McGrath, chief executive of the city's Factory International cultural organisation, said: "Having the largest works of Ai Weiwei's career shown alongside each other would only be possible in the vast, flexible space of Aviva Studios.
"I think everyone's going to walk in here and just go wow - because there are so many beautiful things here which tell us so much about Chinese and European history.
"We've got visitors from across the world, as well as from Manchester, coming to see this show".
Factory International, which operates the Aviva Studios, began negotiations to bring the Ai Weiwei exhibition to Manchester four years ago, before the venue opened.
Creative director Low Kee Hong said: "Ai Weiwei first came here while the Aviva Studios was still under construction and he was really taken by the monumental scale of the building."
"Weiwei is such a keen observer of life and he was really impressed by the possibilities of what this space can offer because a show like this can only happen in Manchester."
The large sculptures in the exhibition include previously shown work and new commisisions, which will be dismantled and placed in storage when the show ends.
Much of the art will then be reassembled and displayed in galleries across the world.
The exhibition is taking place from 2 July to 6 September.
