Choe U-Ram, Urbanus Female. © the artist

The UK's first Asian Art Triennial opens at various locations and venues around Manchester in April 2008 with an innovative programme that echoes Manchester’s strong political and social history.

Conceived by Shisha, the UK’s premier international agency for contemporary South Asian crafts and visual arts, the inaugural Asia Triennial Manchester (ATM08) runs from April 5 - June 1 2008 and promises to “bring fresh art to Manchester and challenge stereotypical viewpoints of contemporary Asian artistic practice.”

The festival also seeks to reflect new artistic practice whilst seeking resonances between the city and Asia by exploring the notion of ‘protest’ – in its widest sense.

Several of the city’s major galleries and institutions are involved in the project including Castlefield Gallery, Cornerhouse, Chinese Arts Centre, The International 3, Manchester Art Gallery and Manchester Metropolitan University.

None of the work featured has been seen in the UK before and for some of the artists, who are from China, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan, it will be their UK debut.

Han Bing, Walking the Cabbage. © the artist

Castlefield Gallery is working with Channel A from Taiwan and p-10 from Singapore who will reside in Manchester in the lead up to ATM08 for a piece of art that will be heavy on technology, web broadcasts, social engagement with the local public and publication.

The gallery space will become a hive of activity for the collection of information which will be made into an artwork in the physical space.

Chinese Arts Centre has initiated both a residency and exhibition programme. The artist residency will be with a Hong Kong artist, who will spend March to May 2008 in Manchester reacting to the city and its communities. The exhibition sees two mainland Chinese artists, Chen Shaoxiong and Qiu Anxiong, who both use Chinese ink painting in an experimental way.

Cornerhouse is staging “What do you want?” with artists Tejal Shah, Jasmeen Patheja, Shilpa Gupta, Surekha and Shaina Anand, all living in India and working amongst a new generation of artists with activist concepts.

The exhibition and community project will seek to challenge traditional cultural opinion, contemporary political issues and controversial social situations through the use of photography, performance, sculpture, video and new media. At the heart of the piece will be an analysis of the problems faced by Indian women and those living within conventional family structures.

Chinese Arts Centre has initiated both a residency and exhibition programme for the Triennial. © CAC

The International 3's project features Chinese artist Han Bing whose work uses photography, video and performative social interventions to question everyday living and the impact of human progress. Bing is planning to involve 100 local people in the European premiere of a surprising outdoor performance.

Manchester Art Gallery will present contemporary work by two Korean artists, Gwon Osang and Choe U-ram. Gwon Osang makes extraordinary life-size sculptures of people using hundreds of photographic images to build up the surface appearance of his models.

Choe U-ram uses precision cut and polished metals, machinery and electronics to create stunning kinetic sculptures inspired by sea creatures and plant life. Two of the artist's enormous robotic works, Urbanus Female and Urbanus Male, will be exhibited for the first time in the UK in the gallery’s glass atrium from April 5 until September 2008.

Organisers say the festival promises “fresh and innovative work that represents the best of contemporary visual art and craft practice from Asia in a festival of visual culture that also celebrates Manchester’s diverse communities whilst exploring cultural, artistic and political debates of the 21st century.”

Visit www.asiatriennialmanchester.com for updates.