The inaugural exhibition at UCCA Edge, “City on the Edge: Art and Shanghai at the Turn of the Millennium,” joins Tsutaya Books at Columbia Circle in Shanghai to present the joint exhibition "Millennium Mambo,” transforming Shanghai Columbia Circle Tsutaya Books into place to stroll and reflect on the remarkable year of the new millennium: the year when China’s art world and marketization were about to be changed by rapid development,  as well as the beginning of global economic integration, urbanization at breakneck speed, and the online economy's explosive boom.

The exhibition begins with audio recordings of the oral history of the year 2000, as collected by the curatorial team of “City on the Edge" at UCCA Edge, from artists who were active in the nascent art scene such as Hu Jieming, Ni Jun, Shi Yong and Yang Fudong, who recount the urban and social conditions at the time and their personal memories of that era, transporting the audience back to the vibrant scene itself with their individual voices and emotions. The exhibition also features rare original sketches from Zhang Enli and Shi Yong, a never-before-seen video work by Zhou Xiaohu, and a work shown simultaneously at “City on the Edge”—a TV documentary of the 2000 Shanghai Biennale, shot and produced by then-state-media producer Fang Fang,  which becomes the sonic backdrop of the entire “Millennium Mambo.”

In dialogue with the exhibition area, the bookstore features a selection of exhibition catalogues and publications related to the themes of the exhibition. Two glass displays are installed among the bookshelves as if time capsules, recalling past memories that still bear connections with us today. Lastly, UCCA Edge and Shanghai Columbia Circle Tsutaya Books invite visitors from around the world to submit their own photos and stories about the turn of the millennium—together, they assemble the most valuable pieces in this exhibition. This exhibition is curated by Qian Mengni and Lin Luqi at the exhibition department of UCCA Edge.