Detail: The UK's first Asian Art Triennial is conceived by Shisha, the UK's premier international agency for contemporary South Asian crafts and visual arts, in partnership with Castlefield Gallery, Cornerhouse, Chinese Arts Centre, The International 3, Manchester Art Gallery and Manchester Metropolitan University (through MIRIAD and the Faculty of Art & Design).
Its programme echoes Manchester's strong political and social history, reflects new artistic practice, and seeks resonances between the city and Asia by exploring the notion of 'protest' - in its widest sense. Fresh and innovative work that represents the best of contemporary visual art and craft practice from Asia will be shown: a festival of visual culture that not only celebrates Manchester's diverse communities but also explores cultural, artistic and political debates of the 21st century.
The programme features stunning venue-based exhibitions, surprising site-specific new commissions, innovative residencies and extraordinary publicly sited work by artists from China, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan. None of the work featured has been seen in the UK before and for some of the artists ATM08 will be their UK debut.