The 2021 edition of the UCCA Gala, “Opening the Door to Art,” will take place on November 6, 2021 at the Bulgari Hotel Shanghai, in honor of UCCA Foundation’s philanthropic mission in arts education. The annual UCCA Gala is UCCA’s most important fundraising event of the year and this will be the first time it will be held in Shanghai, which saw the opening of UCCA Edge this
May.

This year, with a focus on public welfare and arts education, the Gala takes its theme from the banner of UCCA Foundation’s main educational initiatives, Opening the Door to Art, developed with the aim to to improve and expand arts education for children who otherwise lack access and resources in underdeveloped and disadvantaged rural areas in China and to provide for the holistic development of an education in aesthetics, critical thinking, and creativity of the next generation. All proceeds from the Gala will go towards UCCA Foundation’s programs in these areas and make a direct impact on students and rural communities, promoting and maintaining a balanced development of contemporary art in China.

Since 2020, UCCA Foundation has launched a series of philanthropic and educational programs, including online classes, charity exhibitions, and art classes for children with serious illnesses. The Opening the Door to Art initiative has benefited nearly underserved 30 schools and organizations, reaching nearly 8,000 students through its outreach programs and events, guiding students through the doors of an art museum for the first time and creating their own artworks in specially designed workshops. Working with non-profit organizations such as the China Poverty Alleviation Foundation and Red Cross China, UCCA Foundation has built classrooms for art and implemented art courses for over 10,000 students in 50 schools in rural and remote areas across 6 provinces through its Rural Arts Education Center initiative. Furthermore, Art Trips for Kids brings students from disadvantaged rural areas to Beijing, Beidaihe, and Shanghai for their first introduction to contemporary art through museum visits and workshops led by artists and professional art educators.

With the opening of UCCA Edge, UCCA Foundation works to continue its mission in Shanghai and its surrounding area that integrate high-caliber art programming in Shanghai and its surrounding area that integrate high-caliber art programming with the excellent institutional, educational, and art resources available across regions. UCCA Edge has been an integral addition to UCCA’s network of museum locations and to UCCA’s mission to present exemplary international and Chinese contemporary art to the Chinese public, through special exhibition programming and public programs for the Shanghai audience, including the major exhibitions
“City on the Edge: Art and Shanghai at the Turn of the Millennium,” “Urban Theater: A Comedy in Four Acts,” “Liu Xiaodong: Your Friends.” Forthcoming in winter 2021 and summer 2022, respectively, “Becoming Andy Warhol” and “Matisse by Matisse,” two special exhibitions presented in collaboration with international institutions, will travel to UCCA Edge after their initial showing at UCCA Beijing.

To these ends, in addition to donation opportunities, the highlight of the evening will be a charity auction of artworks, thanks to the generous giving by 13 outstanding contemporary artists (in alphabetical order): Cai Zebin, Tom Howse, Hoo Mojong, Hu Weiyi, Huang Rui, Peng Ke, Liu Di, Liu Xiaodong, Ma Jianfeng, Wang Buke, Wang Tuo, Yang Shu, Sun Yitian. The artworks at auction include two new watercolor works by Liu Xiaodong, Two Pumpkins (2020) and Three Pumpkins (2020), both from the artist’s Half a Lifetime watercolor collection and were on view at the artist’s most recent solo exhibition “Liu Xiaodong: Your Friends” at UCCA Edge.

For the gala season, an online silent auction is open to the public in partnership with Cuppar Auction. Among limited edition artworks, tailored museum services, and exclusive lifestyle experiences, the auction features the lithograph My Family (2012) by Liu Xiaodong, the limited edition “Lunar Prints” series (2021) by Daniel Arsham, and the bespoke velvet red sofa modeled after Andy Warhol’s Silver Factory studio, as featured in the UCCA 2021-2022 exhibition “Becoming Andy Warhol.”

Sponsorship and Support

UCCA Foundation Gala 2021 is supported by Shanghai Tang, Baoyun Group, Cuppar Cuppar Auction, and UCCA Young Associates. Special thanks to Cuppar Auction for providing live auction and silent auction support, Yide Fine Art (Beijing) for providing exclusive full shipping support for auction artworks, Shanghai Sun Exhibition Services for providing artwork display and installation support, and Shanghai Bulgari Hotel for providing venue support.

About UCCA Foundation

UCCA Foundation is formally accredited by the Beijing Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau, and managed by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture. It is dedicated to serving the public through a series of philanthropic educational programs. Children’s education is one of the core services that UCCA Foundation offers to the public. Drawing from an expansive network of artists and educational professionals, UCCA launched its community education initiative in 2008. From 2019 onwards, the Foundation has specially designed a slate of classes to help children develop new and creative ways of relating to the world around them, creating their own, original artworks, and learning to think like artists.