Livraria Lello in Porto hosts a new installation by Ai Weiwei to mark the launch of BABELL

On World Book Day, Livraria Lello Porto announces a new installation by Ai Weiwei, opening on 24 June, to mark the launch of BABELL – Cidade Livro, a city-wide cultural event that transforms the book into a means of access and a form of civic participation. The project places Porto at the heart of the global debate on freedom, thought and culture.

The Chinese artist’s installation forms part of the expansion of Livraria Lello Porto, designed by the Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira, winner of the Pritzker Prize, and centres on A4, a new work commissioned from Ai Weiwei.

Drawing on the image of a blank sheet of paper—simultaneously a space of possibility and a symbol of silence—the piece reflects on the limits of expression and the power of thought.

The decision to announce the project with Ai on 23 April is deliberate. Since its foundation in 1906, Livraria Lello Porto has viewed the book as a tool for freedom, a conviction that takes on new urgency in an age of information overload and fragmented thought.

At a time when access to information has never been so widespread, yet thought is often scattered, Livraria Lello Porto proposes a simple idea: to restore the book’s active role in the way we think, participate and engage with the public sphere.
 

A4, by Ai Weiwei

Inspired by recent events in which the absence of words has become a form of protest, the piece takes shape through a structure designed by Ai Weiwei, which holds sheets of A4 paper made from recycled fibres. A familiar object is transformed into a political gesture: a space where everything can be said and where everything can be silenced.

Livraria Lello Porto will also publish a book of poems by Ai Qing, one of the most important Chinese poets of the 20th century and Ai Weiwei’s father. With a cover and foreword by Ai Weiwei himself, this edition extends the project across generations, positioning the book as a space for memory, transmission and resistance.

“Announcing this project on World Book Day is a clear choice: to place the book at the centre of the present, not as a passive object, but as a form of action,” says Francisca Pedro Pinto, brand director at Livraria Lello Porto. “Ai Weiwei reminds us of something essential: freedom begins with the ability to think. Even before it is expressed, an idea already has power. It all begins with a simple gesture: walking into a bookshop, choosing a book, starting to read. If that gesture multiplies, it has the power to transform the way a city thinks.”

Ai Weiwei’s installation marks the start of a new chapter for Livraria Lello and for Porto, reaffirming a simple conviction: the book remains one of the most powerful ways of organising thought and, with it, the city itself.
 

Ai Weiwei marks the start of BABELL

The opening of Weiwei’s installation on 24 June also marks the start of BABELL, a literary and cultural event organised by the Livraria Lello Foundation, in partnership with Porto City Council, transforming the city into a vibrant cultural hub.

To take part, simply purchase a book from one of the more than 50 participating bookshops in the city of Porto. This gesture grants access to a programme spread across streets, squares and cultural venues, and will also serve as your entry ticket to Ai Weiwei’s installation on 24 June.

In this model, the book becomes visible once again. The book is not merely an object, but an action. A shared gesture that energises the city and transforms readers into participants.

The programme will bring together some of today’s most prominent voices, including Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie and Byung-Chul Han, in a convergence of literature, art and contemporary thought.

From 23 April, World Book and Copyright Day, BABELL opens the second phase of ticket sales. The remaining events in the programme are now available: concerts, exhibitions, performances, film screenings, conferences, symposia and family activities, spread across the city.

Further details on Weiwei’s installation and the full BABELL programme will be announced in the coming weeks.