Our History
CFCCA started life in 1986 as a festival created to provide a platform for the Chinese artistic community in Manchester and beyond. Chinese View ’86 was organised by Hong Kong artist Amy Lai.
Three years later the Chinese Arts Centre opened its doors on Charlotte Street in Manchester’s Chinatown. Chinese Arts Centre was a registered charity with the aim of advancing the education of the public in contemporary Chinese arts and culture. It held its first large-scale contemporary art exhibition Beyond the Chinese Takeaway in 1992, representing the experiences of second and third generation British Chinese artists.
-
- A photograph from CFCCA’s inaugural exhibition in 1997, in a previous life as Chinese Arts Centre on Edge Street. The exhibition was a solo show with paintings by Adam Wei (pictured here second from right)
-
- Photograph of Chun-Chao Chiu installing ‘Heart Sutra’ exhibition, 2001. Chiu spent two weeks at the Chinese Arts Centre on Edge Street writing the Heart Sutra, one of two major Buddhist prayers, on sheets of rice paper that covered all wall and window surfaces in the gallery. Chiu is now based in the North East of England.
-
- Photograph of the ‘Seeing: Out of Time’ exhibition at the Chinese Art Centre by Suki Chan, 2000. Suki is a London based artist and filmmaker, who has had her art exhibited internationally. She returned to the CFCCA with a solo exhibition of Lucida and Lucida II in 2017. Photographed by Adam Green.
-
- Artist Mary Tang facilitated workshops at the Centre for Chinese Arts (now CFCCA) for over 20 years. An accomplished artist in her own right, she taught traditional Chinese crafts such as paper folding and calligraphy. This photograph was taken c. 1997 in the old premises.
-
- Detail from Vital Festival flyer. In 2006-2007 CFCCA held the Vital festivals, which present the work of the best live artists from China, including He Chengyao whose performance piece, ‘Auction of the Soul’ at the festival saw her offering her metre-long hair to the highest bidder.
-
- Poster for an exhibition by He An, CFCCA’s first Artist in Residence in 2003.
By 1996 the Chinese Arts Centre required a larger venue, and so moved to Edge Street in Manchester’s Northern Quarter. The move out of Manchester’s China Town was a bold statement about the new direction of the organisation. The focus became to encourage larger mainstream audiences to engage with Chinese arts, and to avoid overly traditional representations of Chinese culture and folklore.
In 2003 Chinese Arts Centre received funding from Arts Council England to develop a flagship site. This was to be the CFCCA’s current RIBA award-winning venue on Thomas Street in the Northern Quarter. It is purposefully designed to incorporate elements of Chinese architecture, as well as respecting the original features of the historic Victorian market buildings. The design included a Gallery, unique artist-in-residence studio and living space, a modest archive and library, education and events suite, a reception, shop and teashop (later turned into a second gallery.)
-
- Flyer for Beyond Chinese Takeaway in 1992. A first of its kind exhibition exploring art being produced by artists of Chinese origin working in Britain. Over sixty artists submitted work to be included.
-
- The Desires of the Golden Lotus, An Hong, 1998. The artist combined elements of Beijing Opera, Chinese superstition and Indian/Tibet traditional legend to create a defending spirit of the people, expressing his concerns for viewers spiritual and physical wellbeing through performance.
-
- External view of the Chinese Art Centre in 1997.
-
- Chinese New Year celebrations at Chinese Art Centre 1997.
-
- Article from Manchester Evening News in 1986 describing the festival where it all began.
-
- CFCCA in 2016, celebrating 30 years
From here the organisation continued to extend its work on a national level, acting as an agency for Chinese arts in Britain and enhancing the visibility of the Chinese artistic community. The introduction of the Residency studio on site provided a unique offer of support for artists, who could explore their artistic practice through living and working in the building.
The centre evolved to become an international agency for Chinese contemporary art. This ethos was embraced by its re-brand in 2013, changing name from Chinese Arts Centre to Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art (CFCCA). This new identity affirmed the CFCCA’s position as a future-facing organisation responding to China’s growing cultural and economic influence. This year also saw the establishment of a partnership with the University of Salford Art Collection to develop a unique collection of Chinese Contemporary Art.
With funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, CFCCA recently launched an online Archive, providing access to the organisation’s archive and research library. A lot of the material can be accessed for free and downloaded to use and share. It is also possible to book an appointment with our archivist to access our Archive & Library resource here onsite by emailing archive@cfcca.org.uk or calling 0161 832 7271.