Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art

Programme for the Chinese View '86 festival organised by the CVAA in 1986

The Chinese View Art Association (CVAA) was established in 1986 by a group of Manchester-based artists of Chinese descent to foster a positive understanding of Chinese identity and culture within the local Chinese community and the general British public.[3] The artists were frustrated that their work was not being seen in mainstream venues, and was not included in the Black Arts Movement of the time. The CVAA, led by Hong Kong Born artist, Amy Lai, held the Chinese View '86 festival, which celebrated Chinese art and crafts in its many forms.[4] This was followed by Chinese View '88 Festival which marked Chinese New Year in 1988.

With Financial support from the Manchester City Council and North West Arts Board, the CVAA opened the Chinese Art Centre on Charlotte Street in Manchester's Chinatown which was officially opened by Diana, Princess of Wales in 1990.[5] The centre was involved with the local Chinese community and its programme looked at traditional Chinese arts and crafts such as calligraphy, brush paintings, and Chinese opera.[5] In 1992 the Centre held its first large scale contemporary art exhibition, Beyond the Chinese Takeaway, which reflected on the experience of second and third generation British Chinese artists.[3]

By the mid-1990s, the ethos of the Chinese Art Centre was reviewed after its funding from the North West Arts Board was almost halved.[6] in June 1996 Sarah Champion was appointed the organisation's Arts Development Officer to develop the Centres new strategy with five priority areas: education, artist development, the Chinese Community, arts promotion, and advocacy.[6] Champion, appointed Director of the Centre in November 1997, oversaw the centre's move to new premises at Edge Street in Manchester's Northern Quarter in January 1997 and the centre's transition to a contemporary arts venue.[5]

This was an important time in the development of the centre; the Hong Kong handover saw much focus on Chinese culture in the British media. 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 Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art 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.[3]

Chinese Art Centre on the left in 2008

In 2003 Chinese Art Centre moved to a new purpose built building on Thomas Street following a £2.5 million Lottery grant.[7] The new building, designed by OMI Architects and awarded a RIBA prize for architecture in 2004, featured a large gallery space, teahouse, shop, offices, resource area, and studio and living area for resident artists.[8] The Centre opened with a specially commissioned work by New York based artist, Xu Bing.[7]

In 2006–2007, in association with the Live Art Development Agency, the Centre held the VITAL Festivals.[9] The Festivals presented Live Art performances, film screenings, and artists' talks, presentations and a conference associated with performance artists from China and of Chinese descent.

In 2010, Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art 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.[10] 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 Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art 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.[11] 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.[12]

In October 2013 the Chinese Arts Centre became the Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art (CFCCA), cementing the organisation position as:

"future-facing organisation responding to China’s growing cultural and economic influence".[13]

Since 2013, the centre has worked in partnership with the University of Salford to build a collection of Chinese contemporary art works.[14] The collection is held by the Salford Museum and Art Gallery.[15]

Following a project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Centre opened its library and archive to the public in 2018. The library contains publications collected by the Centre relating to Chinese contemporary art, including exhibition catalogues, artist monographs, and festival publications. The archive collections contains the record of the centre and its predecessors, covering the development of the centre and its programme history.[16]