Beijing’s UCCA Center for Contemporary Art has opened its new branch in Shanghai, called UCCA Edge and designed by SO – IL.
UCCA Edge is UCCA Group’s third museum, following the flagship UCCA Beijing and UCCA Dune. It boasts nearly 60,000sq ft of gallery space and is located in Shanghai’s Jing’an district.
“We are extremely excited to put down roots in a city that is synonymous with the vibrancy and dynamism of contemporary China,” said UCCA director and CEO Philip Tinari. “With the opening of UCCA Edge, we will be able to deliver top-quality programming to audiences in China’s two largest metropolitan areas, moving us one significant step closer to becoming a truly national institution.”
UCCA Edge will feature exhibitions developed exclusively for the Shanghai audience, as well as touring exhibitions from other UCCA locations. “We look forward to deepening our relationships with artists and publics in this great city,” said Tinari. UCCA Edge includes 1,700sq m of exhibition galleries and an outdoor sculpture terrace, as well as a lobby, auditorium, shop, café, and restaurant. New Wave, the museum’s bistro, will open later in 2021.
SO – IL created a continuous visitor experience across three levels of connected gallery and functional spaces, with guests able to move seamlessly through UCCA Edge. The opening exhibition, ‘City on the Edge: Art and Shanghai at the Turn of the Millennium’, is curated by Tinari and debuted on 2 May. It runs through 11 July, 2021.
