Chinese artist Ai Weiwei’s latest exhibition, *Button Up!*, currently on display at Aviva Studios in Manchester through September 6, confronts visitors with themes of migration, exploitation, and historical upheaval. The expansive show occupies a warehouse space where monumental sculptures and reconstructed artifacts evoke a complex history of suffering fueled by greed and imperialism.

Central to the exhibit is a 100-meter-long inflatable dinghy filled with figures wearing lifejackets, invoking the ongoing global migrant crisis. Positioned along the back wall, this installation serves as a stark reminder of human displacement and the perilous journeys undertaken by refugees worldwide.

Another prominent piece is the Wang Family Ancestral Hall, a temple originally located in China’s Jiangxi province. The hall was carefully dismantled in its location and painstakingly reassembled within the exhibition space, allowing visitors to engage with an element of traditional Chinese architecture rendered in a new context. This work highlights cultural preservation amid loss and provides a tangible connection to a specific historical and geographical heritage.

The exhibition also includes reinterpretations of classical imagery. Ai reworks Jacques-Louis David’s iconic portrait of Napoleon by replacing the horse with a zebra and displaying the painting upside down. While the effort aims to challenge conventional narratives of power and conquest, some critics argue that its symbolism can feel overly explicit and detract from the subtlety seen in other parts of the exhibition.

Despite occasional unevenness, Ai Weiwei’s *Button Up!* delivers a powerful emotional experience. Through large-scale, immersive installations and historical references, the exhibition forces a confrontation with past and present injustices tied to migration and empire. It demonstrates the artist’s continued commitment to addressing urgent social issues through compelling visual means.