Press Release: CIRCA in Collaboration With Factory International Presents Ai Weiwei’s First Drawing in More Than 50 Years
CIRCA IN COLLABORATION WITH FACTORY INTERNATIONAL PRESENTS AI WEIWEI’S FIRST DRAWING IN MORE THAN 50 YEARS
(CIRCA 2025) July, 2026 ➳ CIRCA, in collaboration with Factory International, presents a special public programme at Piccadilly Lights on Thursday 9 July, with the support of Landsec, led by the world premiere of Ai Weiwei’s new animation, A Tree, created from the artist’s first drawing in more than fifty years. Following the opening of his major new exhibition, Button Up!, at Factory International in Manchester last week, Weiwei will attend the screening in person.
Beginning at 7pm, the programme opens with a newly edited film documenting Sewing a Button, Weiwei’s 24-hour performance commissioned by Factory International to mark 15 years since his 81-day secret detention in China. It then transitions to A Tree (2026), which begins with Trees, a poem written by Weiwei’s father, Ai Qing, in the spring of 1940. More than eight decades later, those words introduce a new animation created from Weiwei’s first drawing in more than fifty years, made beneath the 1,200-year-old Major Oak in Sherwood Forest during the summer solstice, shortly after the ancient tree was declared to have reached the end of its life.
Together, the two works extend the ideas explored in Button Up! beyond the gallery and into one of the world’s most recognised public spaces, connecting Manchester and London through a shared public presentation of Weiwei’s latest work.
A Tree concludes with the words, “The spring will not come for her.” The phrase was inspired in part by a conversation David Hockney once recalled in which a philosopher was asked, amid a news cycle dominated by conflict and crisis, “What is the good news?” The philosopher’s answer was simple: “The arrival of spring.” Reflecting on the Major Oak, Weiwei returned to that exchange. “Which is true,” he observed. “Nature has a spring, autumn, summer and winter. But for this tree… it’s tired. It doesn’t have another spring.” Presented on what would have been Hockney’s 89th birthday, Weiwei’s reflection creates an unexpected dialogue with Hockney’s enduring faith in the rhythms of the natural world.
Published by CIRCA on the occasion of A Tree (2026), this time-limited release marks Ai Weiwei’s first drawing in more than 50 years. Printed as a one-colour silkscreen with a hand-embossed border, the individually hand-signed edition preserves the intimacy and immediacy of the original work.
Created beneath the Major Oak in Sherwood Forest on the Summer Solstice, A Tree was completed just days after the approximately 1,200-year-old tree had been declared dead by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The encounter took place ahead of the opening of Button Up! at Factory International in Manchester, where themes of memory, survival and the enduring presence of history run throughout the exhibition.
Throughout his career, Weiwei has returned to objects that have endured history. Ancient architecture, archaeological artefacts, salvaged materials and everyday possessions become vessels for memory, carrying within them the traces of political, cultural and personal experience. The Major Oak belongs to this lineage. Having stood witness to centuries of human history, it becomes less the subject of a portrait than a reflection on what survives, and what remains to be remembered.
Released alongside the world premiere of an animated interpretation of the drawing across CIRCA’s global network of public screens, proceeds support Factory International’s year-round programme of commissioning, producing and presenting ambitious new work by artists from around the world.
NOTES TO EDITORS
- CIRCA in Collaboration with Factory International Presents Ai Weiwei’s First Drawing in More Than 50 Years
- Thursday 9 July 2026 at 7:00pm
- 10-minute public presentation on Piccadilly Lights, Piccadilly Circus, London
- Ai Weiwei will attend the screening in person.
ABOUT FACTORY INTERNATIONAL
A Tree is presented by CIRCA in collaboration with Factory International and coincides with Ai Weiwei’s major exhibition, Button Up!, now showing in Manchester.
The exhibition brings together new and existing works spanning sculpture, installation, film and performance, continuing Weiwei’s long standing exploration of history, memory, freedom of expression and the relationship between humanity and the natural world. CIRCA’s presentation extends this latest body of work beyond the gallery through the world premiere of A Tree and the release of the artist’s first published drawing in more than 50 years.
ABOUT CIRCA
CIRCA is redefining how culture circulates in the twenty-first century with a daily programme on London’s Piccadilly Lights. Each commission extends into prints, books, and digital publications, reaching audiences beyond traditional institutions while generating a circular economy known as the #CIRCAECONOMY, which reinvests in future projects, prizes, and community initiatives.
Since launching in 2020, CIRCA has raised over £1 million to support artists and social causes worldwide. Its public art programme has featured new commissions by Ai Weiwei, Marina Abramović, Yoko Ono, Patti Smith, David Hockney, Frank Bowling, Vivienne Westwood, Anne Imhof, Tony Cokes, Emma Talbot, Alvaro Barrington, Cauleen Smith, Shirin Neshat, Eddie Peake, Kandis Williams, Fiona Banner and Kembra Pfahler, amongst others. (circa.art)
ABOUT PICCADILLY LIGHTS
Visited by over 100 million people each year, Piccadilly Lights is an iconic London landmark operated by Ocean Outdoor on behalf of Landsec. The screen regularly hosts cultural moments, creative commissions and public displays, offering one of the most visible platforms for art in the world.
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