esea contemporary

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esea contemporary

Market buildings, Thomas Street, Manchester, M4 1EU
0161 832 7271
  • Tuesday10:00am - 5:00pm
  • Wednesday10:00am - 5:00pm
  • Thursday10:00am - 5:00pm
  • Friday10:00am - 5:00pm
  • Saturday10:00am - 5:00pm
  • Sunday12:00pm - 5:00pm

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art CFCCA by Michael Pollard
Photo by Michael Pollard
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Thanks to its dynamic programme of events and exhibitions celebrating artists of East and Southeast Asian heritage, esea contemporary (formerly Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art, CFCCA) is a non-profit arts centre, widely regarded as the number one place for experiencing East and Southeast Asian contemporary art in the UK.

Established in 1986, it was originally located in Chinatown but is now tucked away at the end of Thomas Street in Manchester’s vibrant Northern Quarter.

esea contemporary presents and supports art informed by East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) cultural backgrounds. Alongside a regularly changing programme of new exhibitions, it also commissions new work and runs artist-in-residency schemes.

Previous exhibitions featured work from Steph Huang, Dinu Li, Jane Jin Kaisen and many others.

esea contemporary is a short walk away from the Manchester Craft and Design Centre, Saan1 and Black Redstart Gallery.

What's on near esea contemporary

Champion Trees.
MusicManchester
Champion Trees at The Peer Hat

For fans of early Black Country New Road, Champion Trees render stalled lives and small defeats in exacting, wry and self-deprecating detail.

From £10.00
Manchester Destruction after IRA Bomb
TourManchester
Bombed and Besieged: Manchester at War

Marking the anniversary of the Christmas Blitz, this walking tour explores Manchester’s history of conflict, from the English Civil Wars to the World Wars and beyond.

From £20.00

Where to go near esea contemporary

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Bar 21

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This & That Café

Eternally popular curry canteen taking its name from a time when patrons didn’t know what to call their orders, but pointed instead to a bit of “this” and “that”.

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The Bay Horse Tavern

The Bay Horse Tavern is a laid-back pub based in the dead centre of the Northern Quarter, with a wide range of drinks and food options.

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Ziferblat is a pay as you stay café in the northern quarter, where everything is free – except the time you spend.

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Smithfield Market

The neo-Romanesque arches of this former wholesale food market still stand as a reminder to the Northern Quarter’s mercantile past.

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