ANYONE who has ever been on a demonstration will have been struck - not literally, I hope - by the assortment of placards, banners and effigies brandished by protesters. Certainly, last year's Stop the War marches threw up a cornucopia of colourful and home-made bits and pieces.

During one such event in Manchester, I witnessed all manner of noisy devices, bits of sheeting and inflatable objects making their way along Oxford Road and into the city centre.

It's a safe bet that however upstanding these items were in their intent, they wouldn't have been saved for posterity, much less showcased in an exhibition.

But this month the Chinese Arts Centre presents two projects - Objects of Demonstration and Assembly Halls, under the title of People Used To Dream About The Future - which are remnants of political activism and reflect the culture of demonstration and document social issues.

Objects was started in response to an imaginary government museum housing objects handed in by demonstrators or left on the streets. Arranged in categories - such as ready-mades, DIY, body and performance, pictorial, monuments and text - the collected objects include cardboard coffins and a model of the Statue of Liberty.

Sally Lai, who works as a curator at the Chinese Arts Centre, says: "We had some explaining to do when we got to Customs. One of the objects was a bondage outfit, which was for a protest about sexual repression. We also had a wooden toilet and a fish-tomato costume, which was for a protest about GM food.

"Demonstrating has become more creative and sophisticated, and although not everybody is politically active, people are really passionate about certain causes. This exhibition is unusual because all the items on display are made by people who aren't artists. It's not about being politically active, it's about expression. Neither project is exclusive."

The team behind Objects hails from Hong Kong. Community Museum Project is made up of Howard Chan, Sui King-Chung, Tse Pak-Chai and Phoebe Wong.

Hong Kong

The foursome had plenty of material to inspire them, for Hong Kong has seen around 7,000 protests since its return to mainland China in 1997. China itself has a prolific political history, which is the subject of renewed interest.

The Photographer's Gallery, in London, recently hosted an exhibition that focused on the Cultural Revolution. Unsurprisingly the legacy of this upheaval and overhaul has inspired artists - one reason why the Chinese Arts Centre has chosen to display images by husband and wife team Shaoyinong and Muchen, who have documented disused assembly halls from the Cultural Revolution.

THE pair of artists, based in Beijing, travelled across rural China, covering distances amounting to tens of thousands of miles during a three-year period. To date they have visited more than 220 sites, which are used as everything from cinemas to temples.

The photographs of the vast halls are reminders of a more political age and reflect the changes in the lives of the local community, where politics once played a central role in daily life.

"I'm Chinese and I was born in England," says Sally, "but my parents come from Hong Kong. They came up to see the exhibition and they could really relate to it. I suppose we don't have the same level of political activity or interest here because there isn't perceived to be a huge difference between the political parties and their policies."

People Used To Dream About The Future is at the Chinese Arts Centre, Thomas Street, Manchester, until July 18. Call 0161 832 7271 or click here for more information.

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