Ai Weiwei’s latest exhibition, "Button Up!," opening July 2 at Aviva Studios in Manchester, offers a multifaceted exploration of art, history, and politics through a series of ambitious installations. The show, running through September 6, includes works that reflect on China’s complex interactions with foreign powers, war, and the evolving global order.

A centerpiece of the exhibition is "Eight-Nation Alliance Flags," a protest artwork referencing the 1900 invasion of China by a coalition of eight countries, including Britain, Japan, America, and several European nations. The alliance enforced foreign dominance under the guise of opening China to new freedoms. Ai Weiwei constructed the flags from millions of buttons sourced from A Brown and Co, a button wholesaler in Croydon that was closing down. Initially expecting around 50 types, Ai discovered the warehouse held some 9,000 varieties of buttons, totaling about 30 tonnes. Each flag incorporates approximately 300,000 buttons sewn by elderly women in Shandong province, who reportedly enjoy the purposeful work amid limited other activities.

Another significant piece, "History of Bombs," is a large-scale sculpture assembled from Chinese-made toy bricks produced by Woma, a local alternative to Lego. After being denied permission to use official Lego bricks in politically themed art, Ai turned to Woma’s more affordable bricks, available in forty colors and comparable quality. The installation evokes a West-versus-East narrative, contrasting the innocence of toy bricks with the destructive power of the American nuclear bomb “Fat Man,” dropped on Nagasaki in 1945.

Throughout the exhibition, Ai Weiwei weaves themes of capitalism, war, and national identity into a broader meditation on responsibility and consequence. At 68, Ai describes his political stance as that of a “conservative liberal,” emphasizing the need for action aligned with values and acknowledging the influence of aging on his perspective. Reflecting on his earlier years, he noted a shift toward conservatism, shaped by physical and mental changes over time.

Following a decade of exile, Ai returned to China late last year with his 17-year-old son, Lao, and shared images of their visit to his elderly mother. Since 2019, Ai has lived in England, primarily Cambridge, after a four-year stint in Berlin that ended due to his criticisms of current social and political currents there. He has also established a studio in Portugal, underscoring his continued international presence.

Ai’s partner, filmmaker Wang Fen, has been a steady presence during his recent years, and their personal rapport offers a contrast to the public image of Ai as solely a defiant dissident. The exhibition also revisits some of his earlier, well-known works, such as models of the prison where he was held in 2011 and a large boat installation symbolizing the plight of refugees.

Despite his confrontations with the Chinese government, Ai’s relationship with authorities has been complex. Notably, he was commissioned to help design the Bird’s Nest stadium for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a project he later distanced himself from amid disagreements.

"Button Up!" reflects the nuanced, often contradictory layers of Ai Weiwei’s life and work—blending artistic innovation with pointed historical and political commentary, presented through materials that evoke both intimacy and scale.