Exhibiting | The Manchester Contemporary Art Fair

The only UK contemporary art fair outside London

The Manchester Contemporary gives a diverse collection of galleries and artist-led spaces access to the contemporary art market – strengthening the art ecology in the UK by offering a platform for critically engaged artists outside of London.

The fair connects emerging, mid-career and established galleries with a growing pool of international collectors and a wide and varied audience of over 11,000 art-lovers in the North and beyond.

It’s the biggest art fair outside the capital and bridges the gap between public institutions and independent galleries, providing inroads into regional and national collections. Through a carefully curated selection of exhibitors, the fair presents a real opportunity for collectors to discover new talent.

Register Interest

223

Artists

10,368

Visitors to the fair

£47k

TMC Art Fund Spend

Nathaniel Pitt continues as Fair Curator playing a key role in collector development, strategic partnerships and the strengthening of TMC’s relationships with collectors, galleries and institutions.

The Manchester Contemporary Art Fund is the largest philanthropic fund outside of London acquiring work from exhibiting galleries for the permanent collection of Manchester Art Gallery.

The fair invites leading artists and art experts to share their knowledge and experiences with visitors.

The Collector Programme offers unique social events and guided tours of the fair with gallerist introductions for existing and new collectors.

I am really impressed with how Manchester’s art scene has developed in recent years. There is no shortage of potential art buyers in the region, and the fair is vital to inspire and develop a significant audience of collectors.

Frank Cohen

Art Collector

It was our first time exhibiting at The Manchester Contemporary and we had a very positive overall experience. We were delighted that a work by one of our artists was acquired by the Manchester Art Gallery with support of the TMC Art Fund, which demonstrates the keen support of local philanthropists and a significant institution for the growing contemporary art scene in the city.

William Hine

The Manchester Contemporary is a rare opportunity to see so many different artists and gallerist come together in one place, offering a snap shot of what's going on in contemporary art.

Castlefield Gallery

Invaluable exposure … with a heck of a lot of interest in the work of the PRIMATE artists that included multiple sales plus several curators and collectors are consequently planning visits to our Primary organisation in Nottingham.

Primates

The Fair continues to be a genuine counterweight to London – and a real part of the art world ecology outside the capital.

i newspaper 4* review

The Manchester Contemporary Audience

96%

spent more than hour exploring the fair.

99%

will visit the fair next year and recommend to friends & family.

97%

of visitors come from the North of England.

37%

own more than 10 pieces of art.

90%

spend up to £5,000 a year on art.

97%

of visitors are aged 25 and above

The City

With an international reputation for the visual arts and institutions such as Manchester Art Gallery, The Whitworth, HOME, Manchester International Festival, The Lowry and Aviva Studios, Manchester is the ‘original modern city’.

Manchester has been named as one of 25 global destinations to be included in the Where to Go 2024 list by prestigious US travel publication AFAR, has been named in the New York Times’ 52 Places to Go list for 2024 and is the only UK city in National Geographic's influential ‘Best of the World’ list which annually sets out 25 of the must-see places to visit around the globe.

The Venue

The Fair’s venue, Manchester Central located at the heart of the city centre is served by its own dedicated tram stop, free city centre shuttle buses and on-site parking for 700 cars.

Combing state-of-the-art exhibition facilities and little extras such as dedicated porters and trolleys we aim to make exhibiting as easy as possible. Once the fair’s doors close at the end of a successful day the city centre’s restaurants, bars and theatres are on your doorstep to enjoy!