Fifteen years after Chinese authorities detained Ai Weiwei, the artist remains one of the country’s most prominent critics. On July 3, Ai will reenact his months-long detention in his first-ever endurance performance, staged over 24 hours alongside his forthcoming show at Manchester’s Aviva Studios, home of local arts organization Factory International. In a statement, Factory International director Low Kee Hong said this work, titled Sewing a Button, “will provide additional insights and scenarios from his time in prison that are not documented elsewhere.”
I asked Ai why now is the right moment to explore his detention in depth. “Expressing oneself in this way is no longer merely my concern, because the harm inflicted upon individuals or between nations has become so widespread,” he explained via email. “What I experienced is not only my own story anymore—it is the reality of the world we all live in today. The fact that the United States was able to abduct the President of Venezuela and bring him to American soil is sufficient proof that such unlawful practices are prevalent across various political spheres.”
Ai’s 2011 detention culminated tensions that were festering since Chinese authorities exiled his family in 1957, not long after he was born. Although Ai spent 81 days in jail on charges of tax evasion without formal charges, many agreed his legal troubles more likely stemmed from his infamous government critiques, like the relic-smashing Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn (1995), and his year-long investigation into young victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Ai has lived abroad since Chinese officials returned his passport in 2015, only returning to China for the first time in a decade this January.
Protesters holding photos of Chinese prominent artist Ai Weiwei sit on chairs lined up to make a giant Chinese character reading “prison” in Hong Kong on May 2, 2011 during a ‘chair protest’ to demand the release of Ai Weiwei on the eve of his one-month detention. Photo: Mike Clarke / AFP via Getty Images.
As Low noted in press materials, Ai has already made artworks about his jail time, even though his release terms demanded silence. These include a six-part diorama titled S.A.C.R.E.D. (2011–13), and the music video for his 2013 song, “Dumbass.” Nevertheless, Sewing a Button will be Ai’s first time dealing with the material in person, in real time.
From 5 p.m. on July 3, Ai will enter a replica of his 25.92 square-meter cell, recreated by international architecture firm Hawkins\Brown. Inside, he’ll sleep, eat, exercise, write, wash, and face interrogation on personal, political, and philosophical matters by four famed journalists and broadcasters: British host Nihal Arthanayake, Irish writer Emma Dabiri, British author Lemn Sissay, and Singaporean journalist Zing Tsjeng. Nine additional actors will play military guards and doctors.
Manchester and Berlin-based electronic duo Space Afrika will provide a soundscape for the 24-hour spectacle—which will also mark the first time Aviva Studios remains open all night long—and conduct a live mixing session during its run. Elsewhere, guests can expect further activities during Sewing a Button, such as a 24-hour traditional Chinese tea house.
Two-hour tickets are available for £28.50 ($39), while passes for the whole performance cost £69.50 ($93). Fans hoping to partake from afar can tune into Ai’s CCTV footage, which will stream live on Factory International’s website and at screenings slated for the Australian Center for the Moving Image in Melbourne, the private ARTHAUS center in Buenos Aires, and London’s Piccadilly Circus, courtesy of British artist Josef O’Connor’s digital art platform CIRCA.
