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Platforming artists and art informed by East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) backgrounds since 1986

10/10/2026

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the launch of Umi Ishihara: 'Nocturnal Melody'!

The exhibition is now open every Tuesday to Sunday until 17 January 2027. Admission is free to all, with no advance booking necessary.

Shot on-location in Tokyo, and at Madam Woo's gentleman's club in the Shibuya district, 'Nocturnal Melody' unfolds within the transformative space of the night, where women come to life after dark: eyes glowing, claws extended, climbing high. Originally commissioned and produced by Gasworks, the work is now presented for the first time in Northern England.

The exhibition is accompanied by a public programme which includes free guided tours every Saturday, at 2pm.

Find out more and plan your visit via the link below: https://www.eseacontemporary.org/exhibition/umi-ishihara-nocturnal-melody

The exhibition is supported by Japan House London Trust, Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, Matsuura Arts Foundation, the Kumagai Masatoshi Culture Foundation, the Yoshino Gypsum Art Foundation, Yutaka Kikutake Gallery, Arts Council England, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

Photography by Jules Lister.

08/10/2026

‘40 Years, 40 Voices’: susan pui san lok

susan pui san lok is an artist and writer based in London. She is Professor in Contemporary Art and Director of the Decolonising Arts Institute at University of the Arts London. Her practice ranges across installation, moving image, sound, performance and text, evolving from interests in archives, place and migration, translation and diaspora.

Notable projects include seven x seven at Glasgow International Festival (2021), A COVEN A GROVE A STAND at Firstsite Colchester (2019), and RoCH Fans & Legends at QUAD (2015) and CFCCA (2016). Her work has also been presented internationally, including at the Venice Biennale, the 1st Asia Biennial and Guangzhou Triennial, and venues across the UK, Europe, North America, Asia and Australia.

lok was Principal Investigator on the AHRC-funded research project, Transforming Collections (2021-25), lead on the national commissioning project, 20/20, supported Arts Council England and Freelands Foundation (2021-25), and Co-Investigator on the AHRC project Black Artists and Modernism (2015–18), led by University of the Arts London in partnership with Middlesex University.

‘40 Years, 40 Voices’ continues this journey.

Shared throughout the year, these voices do not define a single story, but trace the many lived experiences, histories and diasporic imaginaries that shape who we are becoming.

Image Credits:

1. susan pui san lok portrait. Photograph by Ana Blumenkron.

2, 3, 4. susan pui san lok, 駱佩珊, susan lok pui san, ‘Centenary/Centenaries (in progress)’, 2022/26-, installation with video, sound, shimmer curtains, plastic strip blinds, wallpapers, Whitechapel Gallery, London. Image sourced from the London Picture Archive and reproduced courtesy of The London Archives and Guildhall Art Gallery, City of London Corporation. Production detail courtesy of the artist.

5, 6. susan pui san lok, Years, exhibition installation view, 2006, 22 mins alternating two-screen loop. Commissioned by the Chinese Arts Centre.

7. susan pui san lok, 駱佩珊, susan lok pui san, REWIND / REPLAY, 2022-23, installation with video, sound, magnetic tape, music stands, microphones, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven. Photo by Peter Cox.

06/10/2026

⚡We're counting down to the Opening Weekend of Umi Ishihara: 'Nocturnal Melody.'

🖼️ The Preview on Friday, 9 October, will be the first opportunity to experience the exhibition, and will include an introduction to the work on show from the artist.

🪩 Also on Friday, the Opening Party at YES (The Pink Room) promises an electrifying celebration of music, performance, and desire, with DJs (KD22LR, Kekeneko, Living Gatlato, Malvadona b2b DJ FUMING and live performers (Camilla Salvatore, Kazumi and Zara – pole dance performance) from Manchester and beyond.

💬 On Saturday, 10 October, you can join an Artist and Curator-led Tour and Talk with Ishihara and Rosa Tyhurst, Curator at Gasworks, to explore the nuances of Nocturnal Melody, and the narratives that unfold across Ishihara’s films.

🎟️ Advance booking is recommended for all opening events and tickets are available via the link below: https://dice.fm/tickets/ryoe3w-nocturnal-melody-in-manchester-9th-oct-yes-manchester-tickets

Image credit: Umi Ishihara, 'Nocturnal Melody', installation view at Gasworks, London, 2026. Courtesy of Gasworks.

03/10/2026

⏱️One week to go: ‘Nocturnal Melody’ Opening Party
📅Friday, 9 October
⏰11pm–4am
📍YES, The Pink Room

Tickets are still available for our electrifying ‘Nocturnal Melody’ Opening Party this Friday night at YES (The Pink Room).

Join us on the dancefloor for a late night celebration of music, performance, desire and the alternative worlds that emerge after dark.

⭐DJs⭐
KD22LR
Kekeneko
Living Gatlato
Malvadona b2bc
DJ FUMING

⭐Performers⭐
Camilla Salvatore
Kazumi
Zara (Pole dancing performance)

Suitable for those aged 18 years and over. Doors open at 11pm.

Advance booking is required — get your ticket via the link below: https://dice.fm/event/ryoe3w-nocturnal-melody-in-manchester-9th-oct-yes-manchester-tickets

Image credit: Image courtesy of Umi Ishihara. Poster by Alvar Halonen.

Image credit:
1. Eri and Catalina performing. Courtesy of Umi Ishihara.
2. Image courtesy of Umi Ishihara.

01/10/2026

📢 New online event
'Art Week Tokyo: An Experiment in Off-Centred Art Practice'
🗓️ Friday, 16 October
⏰ 3–4pm BST

Art Week Tokyo was founded under pandemic conditions in November 2021 as a new, hybrid art event motivated by an ethos of community building and resource sharing.

In this talk, part of our 'Off Centre: Elsewhere in Practice' series, Andrew Maerkle, Editorial Director of Art Week Tokyo, will provide an overview of the event and reflect on its development.

In particular, he will consider how Art Week Tokyo employs processes of transportation and translation, both of which imply a carrying over or displacement, to negotiate the shifting relations of centre and margin that structure the local art scene and its place in the wider world.

While Art Week Tokyo’s dispersed, mobile format responds to the specific conditions of life in Tokyo, could it also offer a model for the cooperative redistribution of cultural capital elsewhere?

🔗 This event will take place online via Zoom Webinar and all ticketholders will receive a link to join in advance. Find out more and register via the link below: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/2002284874961?aff=oddtdtcreator

Image credit: The AWT Bus, 2024. Courtesy of Art Week Tokyo.

29/09/2026

⏰Last chance to book Umi Ishihara: ‘Nocturnal Melody’ Exhibition Preview

There’s still time left to reserve your place at our exhibition preview event this Friday, 9 October, at 6pm.

Join us for the preview of ‘Nocturnal Melody,’ a solo exhibition by Umi Ishihara touring from Gasworks, London, and presented for the first time in Northern England. Through film, sound and installation, Ishihara invites us into a world of nocturnal animals, exploring the transformative space of the night where women come to life after dark: eyes glowing, claws extended, climbing high.

At the heart of the exhibition is ‘Nocturnal Melody,’ a film following the lives of Eri .eri and Catalina , two dancers based in Tokyo whose experiences are fuelled by music, nightlife and desire. Moving between documentary footage, interviews, night vision and dream-like sequences, the work offers intimate insight into worlds where performance, labour, intimacy and sociality intertwine, and where dominant social expectations begin to loosen their hold.

🎟️Advance booking for this free event is recommended due to limited capacity.

🔗Tickets are free but capacity is limited. Find out more and book via the link in bio.

The exhibition is supported by Japan House London Trust , Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation , Matsuura Arts Foundation, the Kumagai Masatoshi Culture Foundation, the Yoshino Gypsum Art Foundation .collection, Yutaka Kikutake Gallery , Arts Council England , and Greater Manchester Combined Authority .

Image credit: Umi Ishihara, ‘Nocturnal Melody’, 2026, Trailer. Courtesy of the artist.

26/09/2026

🪩‘Nocturnal Melody’ Opening Party
📅Friday, 9 October
⏰11pm–4am
📍YES, 38 Charles St, Manchester M1 7DB (The Pink Room)

esea contemporary and Umi Ishihara invite you into the night with an electrifying Opening Party at YES (The Pink Room), bringing together DJs and live performers from Manchester and beyond for a late-night celebration of music and dance.

Taking inspiration from Nocturnal Melody’s exploration of nightlife, performance, desire and the alternative worlds that emerge after dark, this special event features:

⭐DJs⭐
KD22LR
Kekeneko
Living Gatlato
Malvadona b2bc
DJ FUMING

⭐Performers⭐
Camilla Salvatore
Kazumi
Zara (Pole dancing performance)

For one night only, the club becomes an extension of Ishihara’s nocturnal world — a space for movement, performance, intimacy and collective freedom.

Suitable for those aged 18 years and over. Doors open at 11pm.

Advance booking is required — get your ticket via the link below: https://dice.fm/event/ryoe3w-nocturnal-melody-in-manchester-9th-oct-yes-manchester-tickets

Image credit: Image courtesy of Umi Ishihara. Poster by Alvar Halonen.

24/09/2026

⚡Opening soon
Umi Ishihara: ‘Nocturnal Melody’

There are just two weeks to go until the opening weekend of our latest exhibition.

Through film, sound and installation, 'Nocturnal Melody' invites us to enter a world where women come to life after dark: eyes glowing, claws extended, climbing high. Originally commissioned and produced by Gasworks, this is the first time the work by the London and Tokyo-based artist has been displayed in Northern England.

The Preview on Friday, 9 October will be the first opportunity to experience the exhibition, and will include an introduction to the work on show from Umi Ishihara.

On Saturday, 10 October, you can join an Artist and Curator-led Tour and Talk with Ishihara and Rosa Tyhurst, Curator at Gasworks, to explore the nuances of Nocturnal Melody, and the narratives that unfold across Ishihara’s films.

🔗 Advance booking is recommended for both events and tickets are available now via the link below: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1999152440766?aff=oddtdtcreator

22/09/2026

Meet the artist: Umi Ishihara

Umi Ishihara's 'Nocturnal Melody' opens at esea contemporary on Saturday, 10 October.

Ishihara (b. 1993, Tokyo, Japan) is based in London and Tokyo. She gained an MA in Artist’s Film & Moving Image from Goldsmiths, London in 2024, and a BA in Fine Arts (Inter Media Art) from Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan in 2018.

Recent solo exhibitions include 'Thundergod,' Gallery Butaiura, Tokyo (2024); 'Gravity and Radiance,' Shiseido Gallery, Tokyo (2021); 'Mire of Di****ad Demon,' TAV Gallery, Tokyo (2017). Recent group exhibitions include 'Home Sweet Home,' Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art, Kagawa; 'Struggle,' Fukuoka Art Museum (both 2024); 'Home Sweet Home,' The National Museum of Art, Osaka (2023); 'Coming of Age,' Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris (2022); 'Bloomberg New Contemporaries,' South London Gallery (2019).

Ishihara’s works have been screened internationally at venues including Centre Pompidou, ICA London, BFI Southbank, Locarno Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, CPH:DOC. In 2024 she was awarded a GQ Global Creativity Award. She is a participating artist at the 2026 Busan Biennale and her new work will be featured in 2027's Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions at the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum.

Image credit: Portrait of Umi Ishihara. Photograph by Harrison Dilks.

19/09/2026

‘40 Years, 40 Voices’: Sophia Yadong Hao

Sophia Yadong Hao is Director & Principal Curator of Cooper Gallery, Reader in Curatorial Practice at the University of Dundee. Working internationally, Hao characterises the curatorial as a rhizomatic praxis capable of transforming exhibition making into a testing ground for radical futures.

Notable curatorial projects: NOTES on a return (2009), re-contextualising performance art from 1980s Britain; Of Other Spaces: Where Does Gesture Become Event? (2016–17) which evokes the ethos of feminism for an alternative politics in culture and society; CURRENT: Contemporary Art from Scotland (2015–21), an international touring programme in China. Since 2021, Hao has conceived and curated The Ignorant Art School: Five Sit-ins Towards Creative Emancipation, examining histories and future possibilities of creative pedagogy as an emancipatory praxis.

Hao is founding editor of the monthly publication ‘What I am Reading Now…’. She was named one of The List’s Hot 100: The Most Influential Scottish Cultural Contributors in 2024.

2026 marks esea contemporary’s 40th anniversary year. From our beginnings as a grassroots Chinese Visual Arts Festival to our role today within the UK and European arts landscape, our work has been shaped by listening, convening, and holding space for voices that might otherwise go unheard.
‘40 Years, 40 Voices’ continues this journey.

Shared throughout the year, these voices do not define a single story, but trace the many lived experiences, histories and diasporic imaginaries that shape who we are becoming.

Address

13 Thomas Street
Manchester
M41EU

Opening Hours

Tuesday	10am - 5pm
Wednesday	10am - 5pm
Thursday	10am - 5pm
Friday	10am - 5pm
Saturday	10am - 5pm
Sunday	12pm - 5pm

Telephone

+441618327271

Website

https://linktr.ee/eseacontemporary

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