Since its founding in 2007, Beijing’s UCCA Center for Contemporary Art has played a pivotal role in amplifying the international recognition of Chinese artists while raising awareness of global artistic practices within China. One of the country’s first private contemporary art museums, UCCA was established in Beijing’s 798 Art District by late Belgian collector, philanthropist and patron Baron Guy Ullens.
After retiring, Ullens—together with his second wife, Miriam—dedicated himself fully to the arts and philanthropic work. A passionate supporter of the post-1989 generation of Chinese artists who emerged in the wake of the Tiananmen Square protests, Ullens championed the conceptually rigorous, politically engaged work of figures such as Zeng Fanzhi, Huang Yong Ping and Wang Guangyi. His holdings of this early avant-garde formed the backbone of what became the Ullens Center, an institution that would steadily evolve into a multi-location platform known for its intellectually ambitious and carefully curated exhibitions.
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Although the Ullens family handed over leadership of UCCA in 2017, Baron Guy Ullens remained deeply committed to the museum’s development and to expanding the vision he had originally seeded. Several weeks ago, UCCA announced his passing; in an Instagram post, the institution wrote: “We remember him with deep respect and gratitude. His legacy endures—in the institution he founded, the artists he championed, and the communities he helped build—and will continue to shape and inspire UCCA’s work and mission.”
With the announcement of his passing, and ahead of Beijing Gallery Weekend (May 25-June 11), Observer revisits the legacy of the institution he created, speaking with current director Philip Tinari about UCCA’s evolution and its enduring role in shaping China’s contemporary art scene.
Today, the growing network of UCCA museums is led by a corporate entity, the UCCA Group, which has scaled up significantly from Ullens’s original vision—particularly after 2018, when UCCA formally received museum accreditation and became a licensed nonprofit foundation registered with both the Beijing Bureau of Civil Affairs and the Hong Kong government.
That same year, UCCA expanded with a second location: UCCA Dune in Beidaihe, carved discreetly into the Aranya Gold Coast’s sand dunes to create a contemplative setting for contemporary art. Then in 2021, UCCA Edge opened in Shanghai’s Jing’an District, occupying three floors of the EDGE Tower—an unmistakably corporate environment that, Tinari acknowledged, presents particular challenges for audience engagement.
UCCA Edge launched with “City on the Edge: Art and Shanghai at the Turn of the Millennium,” a sweeping group exhibition curated by Tinari that examined the city’s rapid cultural transformation through the work of twenty-six prominent Chinese and international artists.
And just last year, the UCCA network unveiled its newest museum location, UCCA Clay, a striking architectural statement by Kengo Kuma that has already become a cultural landmark in Yixing, Jiangsu province—China’s storied “City of Ceramics.” Designed to help revitalize the area and draw new audiences, the opening marked another ambitious step in UCCA’s evolution. Simultaneously, the institution’s umbrella has grown to encompass several specialized branches: UCCA Kids, an educational initiative aimed at cultivating the next generation of art-goers; UCCA Store, its retail arm; and UCCA Lab, a hub for collaborative and experimental projects. Supplementing this already diverse portfolio is “UCCA Offsite,” a flexible platform for temporary exhibitions and cross-city partnerships that further extend the institution’s geographic and conceptual reach.
“Next year marks two decades since UCCA’s opening,” Tinari reflected during our conversation at Art Basel Hong Kong. “The museum’s growth has mirrored the evolution of China’s contemporary art scene—sometimes pushing it forward.” The Chinese art world, he added, has matured. “It’s not the emerging scene it once was. The audience for contemporary art here has been built over many years. No matter the economy or real estate market, many people feel the need to have art in their lives.”
Originally from Philadelphia, Tinari arrived in China in 2001 on a Fulbright fellowship to study at Peking University, just as the country was beginning to open outward and embrace the rapid modernization that would reshape its society, economy and culture. Since assuming directorship of UCCA in late 2011, he has overseen its transformation from a museum rooted in a private collection to a corporate-run institution with an increasingly public-facing mission.
Guy Ullens, he said, believed in the power of art to enrich lives and foster cross-cultural understanding. “By founding an art institution in China, he put that belief into action, doing something wildly original and generous. UCCA, which he conceived and nurtured through its first decade, has highlighted hundreds of artists, inspired millions of visitors, and launched countless careers.” He remembers Ullens with deep gratitude—for his kindness, his passion and his expansive, cosmopolitan vision—as they continue to carry forward the project he began.
Over the past two decades, UCCA has remained committed to curatorial excellence while investing in outreach and education to broaden access and deepen engagement. Building and sustaining an audience, Tinari told us, remains both the greatest challenge and the central goal. “It always comes back to the question: how do you expand the audience and make the experience meaningful?” But he’s confident that demand is growing. “There’s just a lot of hunger for art and creativity in China, and we’re well-positioned to serve it.”
The audience for contemporary art in China has also evolved. It is, according to Tinari, far more mature and internationalized than the first generation that supported UCCA in its early days. “They were people who’d been through a lot, often built their own businesses and wealth, but also lived through dramatic historical periods, and they were maybe learning about art later in life.”
While UCCA has benefited from a deeply committed group of founding patrons, it has also drawn a new generation into the fold—a promising development for the broader Chinese art ecosystem. The younger generation of supporters grew up in a China that was mobilizing and opening up. “They’ve studied abroad, lived globally, and even as the country retreats, they remain fiercely protective of the openness they grew up with.” For them, contemporary art isn’t just culture; it’s a defense of open thinking.
Today, more than 100 active members support UCCA’s national network of institutions. Many of these new patrons are younger professionals who returned to China during the pandemic after years of living abroad, where they came to see contemporary art as an integral part of urban life. “There’s a group effect,” Tinari said. “They bring friends, and they find a community through UCCA.”
This shift in audience has enabled the institution to internationalize its programming further, placing contemporary Chinese artists in dialogue with globally recognized names. Most recently, UCCA’s flagship Beijing location opened a major solo exhibition of visionary Korean-American artist Anicka Yi, following its debut last fall at the Leeum Museum in Seoul. The exhibition also marked a milestone in international collaboration: the two museums co-organized and co-produced the show, sharing curatorial expertise and operational resources. “We each brought our strengths to it, and shared the costs,” Tinari explained, noting that such international partnerships are a key priority for UCCA’s future.
Following the Anicka Yi show, UCCA Beijing will open another major solo exhibition in July—this time devoted to internationally acclaimed Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist. In her first institutional show in China, Rist will reimagine the spatial dynamics of UCCA’s Great Hall with newly commissioned work, transforming the entire museum into one of her mesmerizing “total works of art,” a fluid and immersive sensory choreography of video, installation and sculpture.
Meanwhile, coinciding with Anicka Yi’s exhibition, UCCA Beijing is hosting a solo show by British artist Lubaina Himid, recipient of the 2023 Maria Lassnig Award and the first woman of color to win the Turner Prize. On view through the end of April, the exhibition will be followed by solo presentations from Chinese painter Chen Ke, sculptor Liao Fei and Japanese artist Koki Tanaka.
Beijing will close out the year with its most comprehensive institutional exhibition of Chinese artist Yang Fudong to date. Known for his dreamlike, cinematic language, Yang blends China’s past and future in evocative, often surreal gestures that explore national identity and cultural heritage with poetic complexity—his visual vocabulary shaped in part by his rural upbringing on the city’s edge.
In Shanghai, UCCA Edge is presenting a solo exhibition of Saudi artist Ahmed Mater, on view through June in collaboration with the Saudi Ministry of Culture. The show marks the first large-scale institutional solo exhibition by a Saudi contemporary artist in China.
UCCA’s expansion into new locations has been fueled by strategic partnerships with real estate developers or local governments, each recognizing the institution’s ability to draw audiences and deliver impact. UCCA Dune grew out of a cultural initiative linked to a beachside development, while UCCA Clay was born from a civic push to revitalize Yixing’s cultural identity, specifically its famed purple clay tradition. Kengo Kuma’s design for UCCA Clay even integrates the material into the building itself. “They look to us because we bring international visibility,” Tinari said. “But more importantly, they want our expertise in delivering programs—on time, on budget, with impact.”
Tinari doesn’t rule out the possibility of further expansion into new locations to reach wider audiences. “We believe that there’s just a lot of appetite for art and creativity in China, and we’re well-positioned today to serve it,” he said. “If you look at China and the number of cities with one to five million people that still don’t have a proper institution, it’s massive.” At the same time, he stresses that finding the right partner is critical to maintaining UCCA’s curatorial integrity. “We only want to enter into a partnership if we can be sure that we will be able to deliver the level of content and curatorial sensibility UCCA is known for.”
Perhaps most significantly, UCCA has also helped professionalize China’s contemporary art field, training many who now lead top local galleries, curate at major museums or advise some of the country’s leading collectors. “It became an incubator for a new generation of art professionals. If you walk around Art Basel Hong Kong, you’ll see our alumni everywhere—from blue-chip galleries to academic posts.”
What emerges from this conversation is a portrait of an institution that has learned to evolve with the times, shifting its management and funding models to expand its reach as art becomes more deeply woven into the fabric of lifestyle. In a moment when even the most established international museums have begun to think like brands and behave like businesses in order to innovate and stay relevant, UCCA has adjusted to a rapidly evolving China without losing sight of its founding purpose. What Tinari makes clear, however, is that the cultural mission—and the caliber of the program—must remain the institution’s non-negotiable priority. And that mission must be Guy Ullens’: to “bring the best in art to wider audiences” and to deepen China’s engagement in the global art dialogue.
In a comment to Observer, UCCA Foundation co-chairs Jerry Mao and Derek Sulger said that the passing of Guy Ullens invites reflection on the remarkable legacy he leaves behind, describing him as a singular figure in the history of contemporary art in China—not only an avid collector and patron who built lasting bridges between China and the world, but also a founder whose passion expanded the very possibilities of what an art institution could be. “Every step in UCCA’s journey carries the imprint of his vision,” they said, adding that when UCCA underwent its leadership transition in 2017, Guy Ullens passed the torch to them. “He entrusted us with a dream he had set in motion; one that he hoped would grow beyond any individual and evolve into a shared cultural force.”
