Ai Weiwei and Anish Kapoor to walk through London to raise awareness of refugee crisis

The artists invite the general public to join them on their walk from the Royal Academy

Ai Weiwei and Anish Kapoor will walk together in London to mark the refugee crisis (Press handout)

Ai Weiwei and Anish Kapoor will join forces for a 7 mile walk through London to mark the refugee crisis.

The two artists will each carry a single blanket as a symbol of the needs that faces 60 million refugees across the world.

The walk across the capital will take place on Thursday 17 September, stretching from the Royal Academy of Arts - where an Ai Weiwei retrospective has just opened - to Stratford.

The artists have said they welcome participation from members of the public. The walk will begin at 10am from the Royal Academy on the Mall in Picadilly.

Ai Weiwei and Anish Kapoor's route:

Ai and Kapoor will repeat their walk together in a number of cities across the world over the next few months.

The decision to walk together follows the recent persecution of both artists.

Kapoor's statue "Dirty Corner" at the Palace of Versailles was vandalised for a second time earlier this month with anti-Semitic slogans.

Ai Weiwei, Coloured Vases, on show at the Royal Academy (Ai Weiwei)

Ai Weiwei was initially denied his visa to enter the UK after immigration officials claimed he had not declared a criminal conviction in his country.

However, Ai has never been convicted of a crime in China despite having been detained for 81 days in 2011.

Anti-Semitic inscriptions written with white paint daubed onto Anish Kapoor's 'Dirty Corner' (AFP)

The artist was put under house arrest under dubious charges following his vocal opposition to government cover-ups, in particular the deaths of 5,205 school children in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. His passport was later taken away.