Yayoi Kusama's polka dot art opens Manchester's £211m arts venue Aviva Studios

An eye-catching, immersive and Instagram-friendly array of giant inflatable multi-coloured sculptures has launched one of the UK's biggest new cultural venues for years.

The huge polka dot-covered girls, dogs and pumpkins were designed by crowd-pleasing Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama.

Her exhibition is the first public show at Manchester's Aviva Studios, on the site of the old Granada TV studios.

The £211m venue has gone £100m over budget and four years behind schedule.

It is described as the largest new national cultural project since the opening of the Tate Modern in London in 2000.

The building is still not finished - but the Kusama exhibition and other events for the Manchester International Festival, which started on Thursday, are described as a "preview", with the official opening in October.

Bosses hope Kusama's towering, cartoon-like creations, which have proved hugely popular around the world, will give the venue an immediate hit.

More than five million people saw a global series of her exhibitions that launched a decade ago, and the 94-year-old's work fetches the highest prices of any living female artist.

In Manchester's Aviva Studios, her work fills a warehouse-like space that can host art installations or performances for up to 5,000 spectators.

"It's wonderful to have people in here," said artistic director and chief executive John McGrath. "It's amazing the point that they [the builders] have got it to actually, and to be able to have the warehouse filled with a huge and extraordinary art show is a real joy."

The venue also has a more traditional theatre, which can seat an audience of 1,600, or 2,000 standing.

That hall had been due to be christened by US pop star and actress Janelle Monae with a three-night residency this weekend. But in a blow to the opening celebrations, she cancelled due to "scheduling conflicts".

Grammy-winning singer Angelique Kidjo will now be the first star on its stage on Tuesday.

McGrath described the venue as "unique". He said: "There is no space like this in London or elsewhere, because it provides scale and flexibility to artists to create new work."

It is designed to give the city a cultural venue to compete with others around the world, and attract prestige and visitors.

City council leader Bev Craig said: "You can look at brilliant buildings across the world that drove tourism and reputation," adding that it had been compared to the Guggenheim in Bilbao "in terms of iconic buildings".

She admitted its budget is "vast". Roughly half has come from the council, with the government providing the other half.

The council has recouped about £35m back through a sponsorship deal with insurance giant Aviva, and the corporate name split opinion when it was announced last week.

The building has been designed by Ellen van Loon of architects OMA

The council funds haven't come from its budget for day-to-day services, but from the pot for longer-term capital projects, Craig said.

"This isn't reducing services to be able to invest in culture. This isn't either or. We've taken a long-term view around funding programmes and projects that will contribute and will grow our city.

"In a modern world where money has been tight in council budgets, you have to do both."

Aviva Studios will create or support 1,500 jobs and bring in £1.1bn to the economy over a decade, according to estimates provided by the venue.

Given its budget, it will have to prove itself to residents, according to Joshi Herrmann, founder and editor of Manchester newsletter The Mill.

"It's got to be really central to the city's life," he said. "I don't think there's a wave of enthusiasm or negativity about it. I think there's just a general sense of, most people don't know about it and those who do are a little bit confused about what it is.

"There are definitely people who say, if we're going to spend that much on cultural venues, it should be spread out [between a number of projects].

"There are a lot of people who wonder how on earth the council can afford to put that much money in while it's also renovating the Town Hall and other big capital projects.

"But I don't sense a big groundswell of anger [about the price]. Mancunians can be pretty pragmatic, and they realise these big venues always go over budget and take longer than expected, and that Covid made building things more difficult.

"I just think people want to know what this thing actually is, and what it's going to deliver."

For the official opening in October, director Danny Boyle will stage a live version of The Matrix, recreating the 1999 film through "dance, music and visual effects".

Aviva Studios could also be one venue, along with The Lowry in Salford, for the English National Opera if the opera company chooses Manchester for its impending relocation from London.

The venue will also be a permanent home for Factory International, the team that runs the Manchester International Festival. The festival takes over a range of locations across the city every other year.

Football's creative talents team up for exhibition

New arts centre allowed to operate 24-hours-a-day

New Manchester arts venue goes £100m over budget

Danny Boyle's dance Matrix set for new £186m venue

First look inside £186m Manchester arts venue