Chinese Arts Centre
Encyclopedia
The Chinese Arts Centre is the UK agency for Chinese Arts
, Culture and Creativity based in Manchester
, England
.
Chinese Arts Centre is the international development
agency for contemporary Chinese artist
s. Based in Manchester in the northwest of England, Chinese Arts Centre works to support and promote artists of Chinese descent from around the world. The centre has a changing main exhibition programme, residency scheme and smaller exhibition space for emerging artists. Chinese Arts Centre also works with other organisations to provide a platform for contemporary Chinese artists and has published widely on Chinese arts and artists including British Chinese art, Chinese live art and Hong Kong art.
Chinese Arts Centre was established in 1986 by a group of British Chinese artists based in Manchester. The artists were frustrated that their work was not been seeing in mainstream venues, and was not included in the Black Arts Movement
of the time. Based in Chinatown, the Centre was financially supported by Manchester City Council and Arts Council England. Comprising a gallery, education room and teahouse, it provided a space to show the work of British Chinese artists and the local Chinese community.
The Hong Kong handover in 1997 was an important time in the development of Chinese Arts Centre. There was much focus on Chinese culture in the British media and many arts organisations programmed Chinese related events. This dramatic increase in mainstream recognition of all things Chinese encouraged the centre to change direction and, rather than just exhibiting work, proactively support the careers of artists of Chinese descent. In addition, 1997 marked the year that the organisation extended its remit to become a national charity and started to work internationally, rather than just with British Chinese artists.
In 1999 Chinese Arts Centre produced Representing the People - its first major touring exhibition. Touring to four key national venues and seen by 250,000 people, Representing the People was the first independent exhibition to show artists from Mainland China in the UK. Aside from the quality of the art, the exhibition was successful because it showed an honest and realistic face of life in China and featured artists such as Liu Xiao Dong who has since gone on to international success.
In 2003 Chinese Arts Centre opened their new purpose built centre following a £2.5 million Lottery grant to build a flagship centre for contemporary Chinese art. Designed by OMI Architects, the centre won a RIBA prize for architecture and features a gallery, tea house, shop, function room, offices, resource area and artist residency studio and living area. Chinese Arts Centre set up a residency scheme called Breathe offering artists of Chinese descent up to three month live/work residencies at the centre. Former Breathe resident artists include Gordon Cheung
who has gone on to show widely internationally and had a solo exhibition at the centre early 2008.
In 2006 and 2007, Chinese Arts Centre organised VITAL - two international Chinese live art festivals providing a platform for performance and discussion of this hybrid contemporary art form.
In 2008 the centre received funding from the EU to create a touring exhibition with partner organisations in China and France to forge cultural links between Europe and China. The exhibition will take place in 2010.
In 2010, Chinese Arts Centre organised a Liberation Exhibition - an exhibition
growing out of an ongoing discussion with Carol Yinghua Lu and Liu Ding following the blocked use of a selection of social networking and self-publishing
websites such as Twitter
, Facebook
, and Youtube
in China. This exhibition takes the form of a visual art exhibition as well as a series of events, a debate, and a blog
discussion among the curators of the exhibition and invited guests. Speakers at the Chinese Arts Centre discussed a range of perspectives on the online media and the power of social networking sites. Guest speakers include exhibiting artist Brendan Fan, FaceRook artist Candy Chen Shuhui, Laurence Kaye from Pirate Party UK
, Matthew Trump from the Northern Cybercrime Forensics Group, and Tom Kinniburgh, Associate Producer of the Application
Company Chillingo Limited. It proposes a close look into the openness and potential of the Internet world as well as its susceptibility to power and political manipulation and ideological controls. The event is sponsored kindly by City Inn Manchester, and supported by Arts Council England
and AGMA, Association of Greater Manchester Authorities.
Chinese art
Chinese art is visual art that, whether ancient or modern, originated in or is practiced in China or by Chinese artists or performers. Early so-called "stone age art" dates back to 10,000 BC, mostly consisting of simple pottery and sculptures. This early period was followed by a series of art...
, Culture and Creativity based in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Chinese Arts Centre is the international development
International development
International development or global development is a concept that lacks a universally accepted definition, but it is most used in a holistic and multi-disciplinary context of human development — the development of greater quality of life for humans...
agency for contemporary Chinese artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
s. Based in Manchester in the northwest of England, Chinese Arts Centre works to support and promote artists of Chinese descent from around the world. The centre has a changing main exhibition programme, residency scheme and smaller exhibition space for emerging artists. Chinese Arts Centre also works with other organisations to provide a platform for contemporary Chinese artists and has published widely on Chinese arts and artists including British Chinese art, Chinese live art and Hong Kong art.
Chinese Arts Centre was established in 1986 by a group of British Chinese artists based in Manchester. The artists were frustrated that their work was not been seeing in mainstream venues, and was not included in the Black Arts Movement
Black Arts Movement
The Black Arts Movement or BAM is the artistic branch of the Black Power movement. It was started in Harlem by writer and activist Amiri Baraka...
of the time. Based in Chinatown, the Centre was financially supported by Manchester City Council and Arts Council England. Comprising a gallery, education room and teahouse, it provided a space to show the work of British Chinese artists and the local Chinese community.
The Hong Kong handover in 1997 was an important time in the development of Chinese Arts Centre. There was much focus on Chinese culture in the British media and many arts organisations programmed Chinese related events. This dramatic increase in mainstream recognition of all things Chinese encouraged the centre to change direction and, rather than just exhibiting work, proactively support the careers of artists of Chinese descent. In addition, 1997 marked the year that the organisation extended its remit to become a national charity and started to work internationally, rather than just with British Chinese artists.
In 1999 Chinese Arts Centre produced Representing the People - its first major touring exhibition. Touring to four key national venues and seen by 250,000 people, Representing the People was the first independent exhibition to show artists from Mainland China in the UK. Aside from the quality of the art, the exhibition was successful because it showed an honest and realistic face of life in China and featured artists such as Liu Xiao Dong who has since gone on to international success.
In 2003 Chinese Arts Centre opened their new purpose built centre following a £2.5 million Lottery grant to build a flagship centre for contemporary Chinese art. Designed by OMI Architects, the centre won a RIBA prize for architecture and features a gallery, tea house, shop, function room, offices, resource area and artist residency studio and living area. Chinese Arts Centre set up a residency scheme called Breathe offering artists of Chinese descent up to three month live/work residencies at the centre. Former Breathe resident artists include Gordon Cheung
Gordon Cheung
Gordon Cheung is a contemporary artist who captures the mood of the global collapse of civilization where moral, economic, and environmental crises have spun out of control...
who has gone on to show widely internationally and had a solo exhibition at the centre early 2008.
In 2006 and 2007, Chinese Arts Centre organised VITAL - two international Chinese live art festivals providing a platform for performance and discussion of this hybrid contemporary art form.
In 2008 the centre received funding from the EU to create a touring exhibition with partner organisations in China and France to forge cultural links between Europe and China. The exhibition will take place in 2010.
In 2010, Chinese Arts Centre organised a Liberation Exhibition - an exhibition
Exhibition
An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within museums, galleries and exhibition halls, and World's Fairs...
growing out of an ongoing discussion with Carol Yinghua Lu and Liu Ding following the blocked use of a selection of social networking and self-publishing
Self-publishing
Self-publishing is the publication of any book or other media by the author of the work, without the involvement of an established third-party publisher. The author is responsible and in control of entire process including design , formats, price, distribution, marketing & PR...
websites such as Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
, and Youtube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
in China. This exhibition takes the form of a visual art exhibition as well as a series of events, a debate, and a blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
discussion among the curators of the exhibition and invited guests. Speakers at the Chinese Arts Centre discussed a range of perspectives on the online media and the power of social networking sites. Guest speakers include exhibiting artist Brendan Fan, FaceRook artist Candy Chen Shuhui, Laurence Kaye from Pirate Party UK
Pirate Party UK
Pirate Party UK is a political party in the United Kingdom. The Pirate Party's core policies are to bring about reform to Copyright and Patent laws, support privacy and reduce surveillance from government and businesses, and guarantee genuine freedom of speech for everyone.The Pirate Party UK...
, Matthew Trump from the Northern Cybercrime Forensics Group, and Tom Kinniburgh, Associate Producer of the Application
Application software
Application software, also known as an application or an "app", is computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software and media players. Many application programs deal principally with...
Company Chillingo Limited. It proposes a close look into the openness and potential of the Internet world as well as its susceptibility to power and political manipulation and ideological controls. The event is sponsored kindly by City Inn Manchester, and supported by Arts Council England
Arts Council England
Arts Council England was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three separate bodies for England, Scotland and Wales. It is a non-departmental public body of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport...
and AGMA, Association of Greater Manchester Authorities.