Factory International has announced its Spring 2026 season at Aviva Studios, unveiling a programme of world premieres across visual art, dance, opera and performance.
The line-up brings together leading international artists and organisations, with three world premieres and a UK premiere set for the Manchester cultural hub.
At the centre of the announcement is Button Up!, Ai Weiwei’s first major exhibition in the North of England. The large-scale show will take over Aviva Studios’ Warehouse space with monumental new commissions interrogating global history, empire and contemporary political crises.
The works draw on materials including porcelain, cotton, glass, bronze, and more than a million toy bricks.
The season also features The Surge: An Ode to Sinéad O’Connor, a new dance work by Tony Award-winning choreographer Sonya Tayeh; Return to the Forest, a family premiere from Theatre-Rites and Gregory Maqoma; and the UK premiere of Du Yun’s Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Angel’s Bone, directed by Kip Williams in his first UK opera production.
Tickets for all events go on sale to members on 20 January ahead of general release on 27 January.
Ai Weiwei said: “I’m not interested in making very big things just for the sake of it. But in Manchester, that wonderful Warehouse space calls for monumental work.
“Visiting the city for this exhibition – the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution – and reflecting on Britain’s global territorial expansion made me realise I had to explore that history and understand how it connects to the forces driving today’s wars and global crises. The world today is deeply divided, with tragedy all around. Understanding history goes hand in hand with standing up for truth and justice.”
John McGrath, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Factory International, said: “This season we have a collection of firsts. We’re proud to have Ai Weiwei’s first major exhibition in the North of England, ENO’s first production staged in Manchester and the first major production celebrating the music and life of Sinéad O’Connor… imagining spectacles both intimate and ambitious for our audiences in the North and beyond.”
The programme begins with Return to the Forest (7–10 May), a playful and immersive encounter blending movement and puppetry. From 12–16 May, ENO and Factory International present Angel’s Bone, a contemporary opera exploring exploitation and survival. Tayeh’s The Surge runs 25–27 June, using Sinéad O’Connor’s music and words to explore voice, protest and resistance. Button Up! opens on 2 July and runs until 6 September.
Alongside the premieres, Aviva Studios will host major music events including Halsey (29 January), Fatboy Slim (13–14 March), Lily Allen (10–11 March), Kesha (13–14 March), Thundercat (27 March), Basement Jaxx (28 March), Tricky (16 May) and Pixies (24–25 May).
Classical highlights include Manchester Collective’s Sky With The Four Suns (8 February), The Hallé’s ANNO (2 May) and the BBC Philharmonic with The Rite of Spring (22 May).
Factory International will also continue its artist development work through the Artist Takeover, Young Curators, Factory Sounds and Factory Fellowships. February will see UTOPIA, a working-pub installation created with Trackie McLeod, while the Artists In Times of Upheaval series returns with a reading of Resisters, a new play in development by Mojisola Adebayo.
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