page_title: Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art
section_title: Chinese Art Centre, Thomas Street, (2003–2013)
hierarchical_section_title: Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art / History / Chinese Art Centre, Thomas Street, (2003–2013)
caption_attribution_description: English: Thomas Street, Manchester Thomas Street forms a T-junction with Shudehill just behind the photographer. Salmon Street is on the left and Soap Street on the right. On the left hand side of Thomas Street can be seen the shell of the old market buildings.
context_page_description: The Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art is a contemporary art gallery based in Manchester, England, which aims to advance the education of the public in contemporary Chinese arts and culture. It is currently based on Thomas Street in Manchester's Northern Quarter in part of the renovated Smithfield Market Hall.
context_section_description: In 2003 Chinese Art Centre moved to a new purpose built building on Thomas Street following a £2.5 million Lottery grant. 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. The Centre opened with a specially commissioned work by New York based artist, Xu Bing.
  In 2006–2007, in association with the Live Art Development Agency, the Centre held the VITAL Festivals. 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. 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. 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.
caption: Chinese Art Centre on the left in 2008
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