The UK’s largest Chinese art exhibition arrives in Manchester

25 Sep 2014 The John Rylands Library is one of six venues in Manchester showcasing over 30 exceptional Chinese contemporary artists from Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Harmonious Society, which launched this week, is a major exhibition showcasing contemporary visual art created by emerging and established Asian artists in response to the theme of 'Conflict and Compassion'. The six key city centre venues are the Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art, ArtWork, The John Rylands Library, Manchester Cathedral, Museum of Science & Industry and National Football Museum. The John Rylands Library is showcasing artwork from four inspirational artists - Samson Young, Wang Yuyang, Annie Wan and Zhao Yao. Samson Young's sound installation Chamber Music II: Silent Scores & Non-Events explores the cultural construction of deaf people as disabled, in both its current and historical dimensions. This work draws extensively from the Henry Baker papers and the Deaf Education Collection at the Library, the largest collection of such materials in the UK. The work will feature a series of small, low volume, sound making objects, installed at various locations within the Library's atrium area.