Ongoing Manchester event showcases the very best in contemporary work, aimed at a variety of audiences

Chinese contemporary art is growing in popularity on the world stage, according to one of the UK's leading figures in its promotion.

Sarah Fisher, director of the Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art in Manchester, says people are now recognizing the growing energy and creativity being shown by Chinese contemporary artists, whose work historically had largely been ignored in the West.

"The work of many Chinese artists has previously been viewed as incredibly complex in terms of their perspectives, but now the ambition to have their work recognized around the world is growing stronger," she says.

"They are determined to make things happen, whatever it takes," says Fisher, who took up her position at the center in March.

She was previously Arts Council England's head of investment in the northwest, with a focus on contemporary art, craft and design.

Her new office is on the edge of Manchester's decidedly Bohemian Northern Quarter - the perfect location for what she is trying to achieve.

The venue, formerly the Chinese Arts Centre, claims to lead the UK in exploring what its website calls a "changing international dynamic".

It boldly states: "This is the Chinese Century, and Chinese contemporary art and visual culture is a vibrant force, fast gaining momentum."

The center works with various industry partners in delivering what it hopes is a lively and innovative program of exhibitions, residencies, engagement projects, festivals, symposia and events.

In its exhibition rooms next to Fisher's office are works from Chinese artist Nie Zhengjie and Spanish artist Jorge Manes Rubio.

Nie won the 2012 Liverpool John Moores Painting Prize China and has taken up summer residency at the center to produce a series of paintings depicting China's migrant workers - the many thousands of country people who move into the big cities in search of better jobs.

Rubio's project Normal Pool Level is a collection of objects, drawings, photographs and installations that reflect the complex changes that have occurred in the Yangtze River as a result of the construction of the Three Gorges Dam.

Fisher says the experience has involved a steep learning curve because of the sheer vibrancy of the Chinese contemporary art world, but she emphasizes that she feels Chinese art is yet to be given the due recognition it deserves in the United Kingdom.

The art center was founded about 30 years ago by a group of British Chinese artists, but in more recent years it started to work with international artists, too, she says.

"Everyone in the art sector knows (US artist) Jeff Koons, but I still think even within the UK curator sector not everyone would know Zhang Peili or Liu Xiaodong, for instance, even though they command a similar amount of money and respect," Fisher says.

Zhang is a video artist considered by some to be the Father of Chinese video art, and Liu, a contemporary Chinese artist, is also a professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

Both are due to be featured in the ongoing 2014 Asia Triennial Manchester, an exhibition featuring the works of more than 30 major Chinese artists in Manchester.

Successfully launched in 2008 in partnership with Castlefield Gallery, the Chinese Arts Centre, Cornerhouse, The International 3, Manchester Art Gallery and Manchester Metropolitan University, the event opened on Sept 27 and runs until late November, featuring contemporary arts and crafts by artists from Asia, the UK and the Asian diaspora.

Considered the largest exhibition of Chinese contemporary art in the UK to date, the exhibition will be held across six venues in Manchester, including ArtWork, The John Rylands Library, Manchester Cathedral, the Museum of Science & Industry and the National Football Museum.

Its curatorial team is led by Jiang Jiehong, professor of Chinese Art at Birmingham City University.

The main theme of the exhibition is China's current socioeconomic vision, the idea of a harmonious society.

Fisher says the exhibition hopes to attract a variety of audiences, hence the decision to exhibit at different venues.

For example, using the National Football Museum means audiences who may not be devoted art fans will also be tempted with a glimpse into the art world.

"Our core audience tends to be young urban people who are interested in knowing more about the world and finding new experiences.

"Audiences at the football museum are expected to be families," Fisher says.

Also showing at the National Football Museum will be a collection of films, installations and other artworks reflecting different aspects of sport.

One is The Stratagem by Chen Wenbo, a Chinese screen print on which the attack and defense strategies of a football match are represented in the form of a virtual game.

Another example is the video Man with Ball by Kan Xuan, which examines the link between sport and business by showing a man tirelessly practicing his golf swing in secret, by night, so he can play a better game with his colleagues and clients by day.

The theme continues with Shanghai-based artist Liu Jianhua's Boxing Time, a collection of oversized, beautifully sculpted ceramic boxing gloves, suspended fist-to-fist in opposition, to represent conflict between countries.

The Museum of Science & Industry is also showing a suitably themed collection.

The Last Rose, by Chang Huei-Ming, is a mixed-media installation consisting of a rose mounted on a vibrating exhibition stand, accompanied by a sophisticated lighting system.

The lights' brightness and the speed of their blinking changes over time, leading to the eventual withering of the rose.

Another thought-provoking work being hosted at the museum is Realm of Reverberations, by Chen Chieh-Jen, a four-channel video installation that charts the controversial redevelopment of the Losheng Sanatorium in Taiwan, from leprosy hospital to Mass Rapid Transit depot.

Fisher says the continued rise of Chinese contemporary art has became particularly apparent over the last five to six years, and she thinks China now has the potential to be the next New York in its prominence in the contemporary art world.

She says that some of the world's leading auction houses, including Christie's and Sotheby's, have already opened auction houses in China.

"Chinese culture is finding a much wider audience right around the world, and we certainly don't want the UK audience to be left behind."

She says the previous Asia Triennial in 2011 attracted about 200,000 visitors, indicating a hunger among the general public to see more Chinese contemporary art, she says.

"In the past, the audience wanted to see something new. They wanted to know more about Chinese contemporary art and about Chinese culture," Fisher says, adding that she considers looking at Chinese contemporary works an ideal way to learn more about the country in an indirect way, while facilitating greater understanding between countries.

"We are suggesting there are various perspectives to its story, and are trying to combat some of the stereotypes people have of contemporary China."

However, she says the global growth of interest in Chinese art has not been inextricably linked to China's economic growth, but that it is more the result of a genuine appreciation of the art's quality.

"There is a huge confidence being shown in today's contemporary Chinese art. It offers the public a wonderful contrast at the moment - between being critical, and celebrating what's happening at the moment, and what a world we could and should all be living in."

cecily.liu@chinadaily.com.cn

Sarah Fisher, director of the Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art in Manchester, says people are now recognizing the growing energy and creativity being shown by Chinese contemporary artists. Photos By Cecily Liu / China Daily

Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art in Manchester.

(China Daily European Weekly 10/17/2014 page19)