Contemporary Chinese Art Collection comes to Liverpool
Photography courtesy of Art Labour Gallery Shanghai

THE very best of Chinese contemporary art will be on display in Liverpool, just steps away from the most significant exhibition ever to come out of China.

'PRESENCE - A Window into Chinese Contemporary Art' will open to the public at St George's Hall, on Friday, 9 February 2018, and will feature work from 19 of the most exciting emerging and established artists who hail from mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the diaspora. It coincides with the hotly anticipated China's 1st Emperor and the Terracotta Warriors Exhibition at World Museum which features more than 180 artefacts from Shaanxi Province in North West China, most of which have never been on show in the UK before.

The free 'PRESENCE' exhibition includes:- sculptures, paintings, installations, videos and photographs and will take over the vaults of the Grade I listed Hall; an area not generally open to the public.

Luke Ching, Cao Fei and Wu Chi-Tsung are among some of the showcased artists, with the pieces covering the themes of consumerism, technology, connectivity and the individual's place in the world today.

Assistant Mayor and cabinet member for culture, tourism and events, Councillor Wendy Simon, said:- "The arrival of the breath taking Terracotta Warriors gives us the opportunity to celebrate China, our links with the Far East and of course our very own Chinese community which is the oldest in Europe and plays such a key part of this City. We're incredibly lucky to be able to showcase 2 juxtaposing exhibitions; on 1 hand you have some of the world's most iconic and oldest pieces of Chinese art and on the other we are shining a light on the incredible creative talent which is thriving today. It offers visitors a real 360 degree experience of art from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan at its very best, and the fact that World Museum is just a stone's throw away from St George's Hall really makes it a must-visit attraction for those heading to the City."

All works in 'PRESENCE' belong to the University of Salford Art Collection and this is 1st time the New Collection of Chinese Contemporary Art has been displayed in full. The Collection has been developed largely in partnership with the Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art in Manchester, but also with Liverpool's Open Eye Gallery.

University of Salford Curator, Lindsay Taylor, said:- "It is a true privilege to be exhibiting the University of Salford Art Collection in such an iconic building in my home City, Liverpool. This is the 1st time we have shown the New Collection of Chinese Contemporary Art in its entirety and the venue provides a perfect combination of intimate galleries and spectacular spaces hidden in the catacombs beneath St George's Hall.  As we are installing the exhibition we are seeing the individual works in a new light, and can fully appreciate the breadth and importance of our evolving collection. What links these 2 exhibitions is the desire to tell human stories and to reflect on different periods of history. If China's 1st Emperor and the Terracotta Warriors Exhibition presents the culture from 2000 years ago, 'PRESENCE' looks to the future and tells a story of the 'now.'"

Artist Cao Fei said:- "Chinese contemporary art has become an indispensable component of global art. By promoting, showing, researching, disseminating and collecting, the University of Salford and CFCCA play an important role in the interaction and communication between Chinese and British contemporary art. I look forward to showing my work to audiences in Liverpool."

'PRESENCE: A Window into Chinese Contemporary Art' will run until 3 June 2018, opening from 10am; 5pm, Wednesday to Sunday.

This exhibition is part of the City's China Dream season, in partnership with University of Liverpool; an 8 month long season of exhibitions, performances and events which aim to shine a light on modern Chinese culture and explore the relationship between China and the UK. Highlights from China Dream's Chapter 1 (running February to June 2018) including:- Eroica, at Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, which will see a performance by world famous cellist Jian Wang and FACT's, NOW exhibition, a presentation of Moving Image by Chinese Contemporary Female Artists, which takes place on 7 March and 21 March 2018.

Also within the season is this year's Chinese New Year celebrations which includes thousands of Chinese lanterns lining City streets, a lion dance taking place on Saturday, 10 February 2018, in the run up to the main weekend of celebrations which takes place from the 16 February to 18 February 2018.

For more details about China Dream, visit:- ChinaDreamLiverpool.Com.