UCCA Clay

COMING SOON Hidden Within Matter: Zhou Xiaohu & Zhang Yibei From April 3 to June 21, 2026, UCCA Clay presents “Hidden Within Matter: Zhou Xiaohu & Zhang Yibei,” a two-artist exhibition that brings together newly commissioned works alongside recent projects of installation, sculpture, animation, and other media. Taking “the object” as its point of departure, artists Zhou Xiaohu and Zhang Yibei explore the latent agency of matter—how things, through their material presence, shape perception, memory, and everyday experience. Moving beyond a human-centered viewpoint, the exhibition considers objects as active participants in the construction of meaning, continually shifting the boundaries between nature and technology, the artificial and the ecological. This exhibition is curated by Yao Mengxi. #ucca #uccaclay #zhouxiaohu #zhangyibei

NOW OPEN: “Hidden Within Matter: Zhou Xiaohu & Zhang Yibei” This two-person presentation at UCCA Clay unfolds across newly commissioned works and recent practices by the two artists. Working across installation, sculpture, animation, and archival inquiry, Zhou Xiaohu and Zhang Yibei approach “the object” not as a passive form, but as an active presence—one that records, transmits, and reshapes the conditions of history and perception. Positioning matter as both witness and agent, the exhibition invites a reconsideration of how materials participate in shaping cognition and everyday life, while continuously unsettling the boundaries between the natural and the urban, the artificial and the ecological. On view from April 3 through June 21, 2026. This exhibition is curated by Yao Mengxi. #ucca #uccaclay #zhouxiaohu #zhangyibei #yixing

UCCA is thrilled to share updates for our 2026 Exhibition Program across Beijing, Beidaihe, and Yixing. @ucca798 , Beijing – “Yang Fudong: Fragrant River” is now extended through May 31, 2026. Carsten Holler will now run July 4, 2026 – January 31, 2027, presenting iconic works and newly commissioned site-specific installations. The year will also feature presentations by Rutherford Chang, Michael Cherney, Duan Jianyu, and John Baldessari. @uccadune , Beidaihe – New works by Yang Xinguang and interdisciplinary installations by Katie Paterson. @uccaclay , Yixing – Three exhibitions: “Hidden Within Matter: Zhou Xiaohu and Zhang Yibei” (spring), “Raw Modernism: Accolay Clay Today” (summer–autumn), and the first institutional solo in China by Toshiko Takaezu (end of year), highlighting both historic and contemporary ceramic practices. We look forward to welcoming audiences to a year of rigorous and engaging contemporary art by Chinese and international artists! #ucca #ucca798 #uccadune #uccaclay

UCCA Clay Exhibition Extension More visitors can now explore “Improvisational Drift: New Directions in Ceramics” at UCCA Clay, extended for an additional week to March 8, 2026. The exhibition presents works by Masaomi Yasunaga, Geng Xue, Liu Xi, Asya Marakulina, Keita Matsunaga, USEFULLESS LAB × ROYOKO, Xiao Wei, Xu Zhiwei, and Yang Xinguang. Each artist improvises with material, craft, and concept, charting new directions in contemporary ceramics and arriving at singular moments of balance and transformation. #ucca #uccaclay #yixing

🐎🏮Getting ready for Chinese New Year! 🏮🐎 Before we break to welcome the Year of the Horse, please note that UCCA will have adjusted holiday hours across all our locations starting from Feb. 15. As such, plan your visit accordingly to experience our current exhibitions at @ucca798 , @uccadune , and @uccaclay ! Currently presenting: 🏮UCCA Beijing Yang Fudong: Fragrant River (On view through May 5) Rutherford Chang: Hundreds and Thousands (On view through April 12) Michael Cherney: Middle Distance (On view through April 12) 🏮UCCA Dune - Beidaihe Kim Lim: Water Rests, Stone Speaks (On view through April 6) 🏮UCCA Clay - Yixing Improvisational Drift: New Directions in Ceramics (On view through March 1) To stay up to date: .cn #ucca #ucca798 #uccadune #uccaclay

A look-back at UCCA’s 2025 exhibitions: This year, we presented 13 exhibitions across our locations in UCCA Beijing, UCCA Dune, UCCA Clay, and UCCA Edge. From new commissions to landmark retrospects, artists unfolded explorations of memory, movement, history, the present moment, identity and more, throughout our galleries, opening up new perspectives and dialogue. Thank you to the artists, collaborators, and audiences who made our year, and onward to what’s ahead! #ucca #ucca798 #uccadune #uccaclay #uccaedge

Happy Holidays! All UCCA institutions will operate at our usual hours throughout this holiday season, including New Year‘s Day (January 1, 2026). Wishing everyone a festive and artistic holiday season! Current exhibitions: UCCA Beijing | ”Yang Fudong: Fragrant River“ On view through May 5, 2026 UCCA Beijing | ”Koki Tanaka: Provisional Community“ On view through January 4, 2026 UCCA Dune | ”Kim Lim: Water Rests, Stone Speaks“ On view through April 6, 2026 UCCA Clay | ”Improvisional Drift: New Directions in Ceramics“ On view through March 1, 2026 For details on hours, directions, and Public Program activities, please visit: .cn/en

Tonight, the moment has arrived! ✨ We are thrilled to celebrate the 2025 UCCA Gala in Shanghai, which also marks our 18th Birthday! Under the theme “Another Evolution,” we gather with an incredible community of supporters, artists, and partners to champion the future of contemporary art. The support from tonight will enable: -Exhibitions & public programs -Artistic research & publications -Children’s arts education & social initiatives We are immensely grateful to our co-chairs, donating artists, auction support @sothebys , and all our partners. Together, we are bringing the best in art to a wider audience. #ucca #uccagala

NOW OPEN | “Improvisational Drift: New Directions in Ceramics” From November 1, 2025 to March 1, 2026, UCCA Clay presents “Improvisational Drift: New Directions in Ceramics,” a group exhibition featuring works by Masaomi Yasunaga, Geng Xue, Liu Xi, Asya Marakulina, Keita Matsunaga, USEFULLESS LAB × ROYOKO, Xiao Wei, Xu Zhiwei, and Yang Xinguang. Exploring the diverse trajectories of contemporary ceramic practice, the exhibition traces how artists improvise and diverge from tradition—each negotiating between inherited craftsmanship, the material’s own agency, and individual creative logic. The exhibition space is inspired by the idea of a map, divided by translucent curtains resembling mountains and rivers. As visitors move between these shifting boundaries, they navigate their own routes through a landscape of clay, imagination, and possibility. This exhibition is curated by Zhang Yao, UCCA Assistant Curator. #ucca #uccaclay #ceramicart #yixing

OPENING SOON | Improvisational Drift: New Directions in Ceramics From November 1, 2025 to March 1, 2026, UCCA Clay will present “Improvisational Drift: New Directions in Ceramics,” a group exhibition featuring works by: Masaomi Yasunaga, Geng Xue, Liu Xi, Asya Marakulina, Keita Matsunaga, USEFULLESS LAB × ROYOKO, Xiao Wei, Xu Zhiwei, and Yang Xinguang. The exhibition will be an exploration of how contemporary ceramic artists improvise and diverge from traditional techniques, each beginning from a distinct point on a shared “map.” Through their dialogue with material, craft, and concept, they trace new trajectories in ceramic art to arrive at singular states of balance and transformation. This exhibition is curated by UCCA Assistant Curator Zhang Yao. #ucca #uccaclay #ceramicart #yixing

UCCA is pleased to announce our 2026 exhibition program, featuring seven exhibitions across @ucca798 in Beijing and @uccadune in Beidaihe. For @ucca798 , the year will begin in the Great Hall with a continuation of Yang Fudong’s first institutional solo in Beijing and follow with a presentation by Carsten Höller, featuring iconic installations alongside newly commissioned site-specific works. The Beijing program will also include the first institutional survey of Rutherford Chang; a focused presentation of Michael Cherney; an institutional solo by Duan Jianyu; and a survey of John Baldessari spanning fifty years of his practice. At @uccadune , the year will feature new works by Yang Xinguang and interdisciplinary installations by Katie Paterson. @uccaedge in Shanghai has paused its exhibition programming to explore new operational and collaboration models, and exhibition details for @uccaclay in Yixing will be announced separately. UCCA looks forward to presenting this exciting roster of international and Chinese artists in 2026! #ucca #2026exhibitions

INSTALLATION HIGHLIGHT | Underwater, on Fire A dragon coils in the gallery. Breathed into life by a fog machine, its body is made of iron-rich Yixing clay, and its spine flickers with animations of mining and memes. Candice Lin’s “Soul of the World (Iron Ouroboros)” is a smoldering meditation on the cycles of consumption, sacrifice, willpower, and historical dynamics that shape our world. Hanging above the dragon, indigo-dyed textiles—“Mater/Desire” and “Terror/Terroir”—explore humanity’s insatiable appetite for natural resources. Mater (Latin for mother, root of “matrix”) and désire (French for desire) face each other on one sheet, while terror and terroir (the environmental factors shaping wine grapes) mark the other. Dyed with historically prized indigo, the works reflect how the pursuit of materials—from minerals to fabrics—has driven history, often through greed, violence, and upheaval. Throughout flanking exhibition spaces, @shuyi_cao Shuyi Cao creates a fictional underwater temple with “Institute of the Sun #1 & #2.” Here, commissioned Tiffany stained glass works—inspired by solar furnaces and primitive algae—glow next to enigmatic purple clay sculptures (“Thalacora,” “Ammonora,” “Xurtha,” “Siphonura,” “Gorgospina,” “Land of Discontinuity”) featuring hybridized microorganisms, fossils, and mythological totems. These works are just one layer of an immersive exhibition where all elements are connected and move beyond the traditional presentation pf individual objects to a holistic, contemporary narrative of myths, matter, and transformation. “Underwater, on Fire” is curated by Luan Shixuan @shixuan_luan and is on view until October 12, 2025. #ucca #uccaclay #shuyicao #candicelin #yixing