[4] The 2006 edition of Manifesta was set to happen in Nicosia, Cyprus, under the direction of Florian Waldvogel, Mai Abu ElDahab, and Anton Vidokle.

[5] Previous editions have taken place in Rotterdam (1996), Luxembourg (1998), Ljubljana (2000), Frankfurt (2002), San Sebastián (2004), Nicosia (2006 – cancelled), Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol (2008), Murcia in dialogue with northern Africa (2010), Limburg (2012), Saint Petersburg (2014), Zürich (2016), Palermo (2018),[6] and Marseille (2020 – known as Manifesta 13, it took place despite the COVID-19 pandemic).

The 10th edition of Manifesta in Saint Petersburg in Russia created tensions as the government had just prohibited "gay propaganda".

The programmes created by the team are derived from conversations, extensive field research and sociocultural and educational mapping.

Additionally the team creates a set of interrelated research-and-practice-based programmes focussed on local knowledge and practices.