Ai Weiwei Weekender
Friday 11 December - Sunday 13 December 2015
Burlington House, Royal Academy of Arts
Exhibition ticket price £17.60 (£16 without donation). Concessions available. Additional activities are free unless otherwise specified.
Ai Weiwei
Experience the RA galleries like never before as we open our doors around the clock for a full 56 hours.
Please note that online booking for advance tickets is no longer available, due to the level of demand. A limited number of tickets are available at the ticket office, but you may have to queue at busy times.
For the first time in the RA’s 247-year history, we are offering the opportunity to see the Ai Weiwei exhibition at any time from 10am on Friday 11 December to 6pm on Sunday 13 December.
Encounter surreal performances, gallery talks and hands-on activities throughout the night, as well as a chance to immerse yourself in Ai Weiwei’s monumental and deeply powerful work after hours.
Food and drink
Bar open until 1am, with food and hot beverages available all night, courtesy of Peyton and Byrne.
Exhibition ticket price £17.60 (£16 without donation). Concessions available. Additional activities are free unless otherwise specified.
Ai Weiwei
What's on
Your map of the galleries
Friday 11 December
All night: Get creative with LEGO bricks in the Sir Hugh Casson Room bar and build a LEGO version of one of Ai Weiwei’s works.
10pm, 11pm and midnight: Spotlight gallery talks with Maurice Davies, Head of Collections
11.30pm – 3am: The Network Ensemble create sounds in response to communications between nearby Wi-Fi networks, with live performances at 11.30pm and 12.30am.
Midnight onwards: Screenings in the Belle Shenkman Room of Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry presented by Curzon
Midnight – 2am: Spoken word performances by Jess Heritage
3am, 4am and 5am: Elgar’s Sea Pictures, performed as a song cycle by opera singer Lia Ikkos
At sunrise: Dance performances by Michael Kitchin and Eve Stainton (The Uncollective) among Ai Weiwei’s Tree in the Annenberg Courtyard
Saturday 12 December
All night: Get creative with LEGO bricks in the Sir Hugh Casson Room bar and build a LEGO version of one of Ai Weiwei’s works.
10pm, 11pm and midnight: Spotlight gallery talks on socially engaged art with Cecilie Sachs Olsen, PhD Researcher at Queen Mary University of London
11.30pm – 3am: The Network Ensemble create sounds in response to communications between nearby Wi-Fi networks, with live performances at 11.30pm and 12.30am.
Midnight onwards: Screenings in the Belle Shenkman Room of Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry presented by Curzon
Midnight – 2am: Spoken word performances by Jess Heritage
3am, 4am and 5am: Elgar’s Sea Pictures, performed as a song cycle by opera singer Lia Ikkos
At sunrise: Dance performances by Michael Kitchin and Eve Stainton (The Uncollective) among Ai Weiwei’s Tree in the Annenberg Courtyard
Brunch at the Keeper's House
Enjoy a special brunch menu in the RA's restaurant, the Keeper's House, as part of the Ai Weiwei weekender.
Brunch will be available on Sunday 13 December, from 11am – 4pm.
Friends Private Lounge
Relax after a visit to Ai Weiwei with a glass of sparkling wine in a luxury lounge just for Friends of the RA during our first ever round-the-clock 56 hour opening during the final weekend of Ai Weiwei.