UCCA presents the Edge Ball, a major celebration accompanied by a silent auction and interdisciplinary forum, previewing UCCA Edge, the institution’s new space in Shanghai.

On November 12, 2020, UCCA presents the Edge Ball, an immersive art event and celebration welcoming the institution’s supporters. The party will take place on the top floor of the Edge building in Shanghai, and serves as a preview for UCCA Edge, UCCA’s new museum opening on the lower floors of the same site in spring 2021. Celebrating a new stage in UCCA’s history, the ball will bring friends and supporters of the institution from different professional fields and backgrounds together in Shanghai. The party features a silent auction and will be followed on November 13 by the first installment of the “Vision Forum,” a new series of future-oriented discussions hosted by UCCA’s Public Practice Department. Upon opening in early 2021, UCCA Edge will be UCCA Group’s third museum, after UCCA Beijing in 798 Art District and UCCA Dune in Beidaihe’s Aranya Gold Coast. As China’s leading institution of contemporary art, UCCA is excited to open its first museum outside of the Beijing region, connecting with a new community and cast of collaborators in the international city of Shanghai while continuing its mission to bridge cultures through art, bring art closer to the public, promote the sustainable development of Chinese contemporary art, and draw China further into global dialogue through art.

The theme for the Edge Ball is “Les Immatériaux,” inspired by the historic exhibition of the same name staged at the Centre Pompidou in Paris in 1985. Curated by French philosopher Jean-François Lyotard, the exhibition is now recognized as marking the beginning of the post-modern era in art. It re-defined the means through which art and technology interact, making it a crucial reference point for UCCA’s work, not least of all for its influence upon UCCA Beijing’s current major exhibition, “Immaterial/Re-material: A Brief History of Computing Art.” For UCCA, “Les Immatériaux” captures a sense of breaking out beyond physical boundaries into the new context of Shanghai, as well as an awareness of the heightened importance of nonphysical communications technology during this special period of limited international movement. In this spirit, the “Vision Forum” that accompanies the Edge Ball gazes ahead to explore the how technology carries humankind’s hopes for the future.

The Edge Ball is not only the first event to be held at the site of UCCA Edge, but in this year of challenges, also takes the place of the UCCA Gala, which usually brings together the institution’s supporters in celebration each November in Beijing. The Edge Ball features a silent auction, reprising a feature of the Gala launched in 2019. More than 30 sponsors have generously placed more than 60 exclusive artworks, rewards, and items of merchandise up for auction. This year, access to the auction is not just limited to attendees, but also open to the public online, allowing those unable to travel to the event to still show their support. Guests in Shanghai will also have the opportunity to join UCCA Young Associates, the newest tier of the institution’s Patrons Council, or to lead their companies to become corporate partners of UCCA. Support for UCCA at the Edge Ball strengthens the operation and development of the institution, in particular its academic and philanthropic initiatives, contributing to the vitality of Chinese contemporary art as a whole.  

However, the Edge Ball is not merely an auction or get-together: It is an exhilarating art and fashion event in its own right. Through the theme of “Les Immatériaux,” the party and its featured performances and installations attempt to break through sensory limits to hypothesize what art of the future may look like. Multi-disciplinary artist Miao Jing serves as artistic director for the event. With his deft control of sound, image, and light, he has drawn together different technologies and interactive elements to create an environment that blurs the boundaries between real and virtual worlds. In addition, artist and UCCA Young Associate Liu Qinmin will stage excerpts from her performance piece Flying Out, which combines dance, singing, theatrical monologues, acrobatics, parkour, and improvisation to imagine the shape of future creativity. Through this performance by a member of its Patrons Council, UCCA hopes to encourage a closer, more collaborative relationship with its supporters.

The day after the Edge Ball, UCCA will gather together leading voices from different cultural and scientific disciplines, within China or joining remotely from abroad, to host the first of three “Vision Forum” panel discussions. Organized together with BaiduBaike Museums Project and the Beijing-based science fiction platform Future Affairs Administration, the forum invites cutting-edge academics, scientists, science fiction writers, artists, and entrepreneurs to engage in dialogue. At a time of unprecedented global crisis, UCCA asks these experts to think beyond divisions of region, nation-state, and culture to reflect on the future risks—and possibilities—for all of humanity. Speakers will collectively deliver feasibility reports on the survival of humankind, the potential for global community, and broader possibilities for the future. The first event, to be held on November 13 at the site of the Edge Ball, features artists Cao Fei, Fei Yining, and Michael Najjar (attending remotely); Deputy CEO of iSpace, Huo Jia; science fiction writer Jiang Bo; and architect Ma Yansong (attending remotely), who will confront vital existential questions such as the threat of extinction of life on earth, how interstellar travel might hold the key to human survival, and the place of humanity within the vast cosmos. Further “Vision Forum” sessions will be held at UCCA Beijing and UCCA Dune over the coming months.

Sponsorship and Support

The Edge Ball is co-hosted by UCCA and fashion media brand SuperELLE. APAX Group is exclusive partner for the event. Music and sound system support comes from 44KW, and LOEWE provides art project support. Yide Fine Art (Beijing) Pte Ltd provides full shipping support for the silent auction artworks. UCCA thanks adidas Originals, Perrier, JUST WATER, and Absolut Vodka for their special support, as well as Action Media for video support, Anze Studio for on-site acoustic design, artists Wang Yin and Shen Linghao for visual support, and Yoopay for digital payment support.