Cao Fei anchors Basel with immersive near-future city
Published on 08/28/2026 at 10:34 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Cao Fei currently occupies Kunstmuseum Basel | Gegenwart with the expansive survey exhibition Testimonies to the Near Future. As the museum confirms, the show runs from May 30 to October 11, 2026 and turns the entire Gegenwart building into an immersive near-future city. Kunstmuseum Basel exhibition page
Cao Fei at Kunstmuseum Basel
The Kunstmuseum Basel press material describes Testimonies to the Near Future as Cao Fei's first solo exhibition in Switzerland and the largest survey of her work in Europe to date. It spans works from the 1990s to 2025 across multiple immersive environments. Kunstmuseum Basel press release
Across four floors of the Gegenwart building, the exhibition stages ten installations and environments that draw on Cao Fei's long-term interest in virtual worlds, urban transformation and speculative narratives of labor and technology. The museum's booklet notes opening hours from Tuesday to Sunday, 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM for the venue. Exhibition booklet
Biennial & fair resonance around Basel
The show coincides with Basel's summer art season, including Art Basel and other institutional programs that position Cao Fei's work in a wider network of future-facing exhibitions. A recent overview of Basel museum shows underscores how Testimonies to the Near Future stands out for its virtual city-scale staging and its focus on three decades of digital and cinematic practice. Observer feature on Basel exhibitions
Parallel presentations such as Cao Fei's Dash at Fondazione Prada in Milan and her participation in the New Museum's New Humans: Memories of the Future in New York underline how institutions align her practice with broader debates about technology, speculative fiction and the future of urban life. These shows frame the Basel survey as a European anchor point in a multi-city institutional trajectory.
All news and background on Cao Fei
Readers can follow further coverage of Cao Fei's exhibitions, institutional projects and market developments in the AD HOC NEWS archive and via official museum sources.
The work core in Basel
Within Testimonies to the Near Future, Cao Fei weaves together earlier projects on factory labor, online communities and avatar-based worlds with recent explorations of smart cities and mixed realities. Installations, videos and architectural interventions are arranged to form a walkable narrative of shifting Chinese urban and technological landscapes.
The exhibition booklet points out that visitors encounter skate ramps, pseudo-infrastructure, projected environments and scenographies that echo elements from Cao Fei's long-term projects such as her virtual metropolis RMB City and her films on production zones and youth culture. Physical, virtual and hybrid spaces intersect to show how memory and futurity overlap in her work.
Where the artist stands now
Cao Fei's survey Testimonies to the Near Future remains on view at Kunstmuseum Basel | Gegenwart through October 11, 2026, serving as a current institutional focal point for her near-future city practice.
Key facts on Cao Fei
- Artist: Cao Fei
- Medium / Genre: Digital art, video, installation
- Born: 1978, Guangzhou, China
- Place(s) of practice: Studio practice linked to Beijing and international institutional collaborations
- Active since: Late 1990s, with early recognition for video works on urban youth and new media in China
- Key work groups: RMB City, Whose Utopia, COSPlayers, Asia One
- Current/last exhibition: Testimonies to the Near Future, Kunstmuseum Basel | Gegenwart, May 30–October 11, 2026
- Major collections: MoMA (New York), Tate (London), Louis Vuitton Foundation (Paris), K20/K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen (Düsseldorf)
- Awards: BMW Art Journey (2018), nomination and recognition in major international biennials
- Next date: On view in Testimonies to the Near Future at Kunstmuseum Basel | Gegenwart through October 11, 2026
Frequently asked questions about Cao Fei
Where is Cao Fei's work currently on view in Europe?
Cao Fei's survey exhibition Testimonies to the Near Future is on view at Kunstmuseum Basel | Gegenwart in Basel from May 30 to October 11, 2026, presenting ten immersive environments across four floors.
What is the focus of Cao Fei's exhibition Testimonies to the Near Future?
The show assembles three decades of installations, videos and environments that explore virtual worlds, Chinese urban change and speculative near-futures, transforming the Gegenwart building into an immersive city-like Gesamtkunstwerk.
How does the Basel exhibition relate to Cao Fei's other 2026 projects?
In 2026, institutions such as Fondazione Prada in Milan and the New Museum in New York also present projects with Cao Fei, situating the Basel survey within a wider institutional network around technology, futurity and digital narrative.
This article was produced with a.i. support and editorially reviewed. All statements without guarantee; auction results, exhibition dates and awards may change at short notice.
