Shot by Jiang Xiaowei. Edited by Yan Jingyang, Sun Yinuo. Reported by Arina Yakupova.
As summer deepens, Shanghai emerges as a dynamic hub of artistic expression, blending the richness of tradition with the pulse of modern creativity.
From the timeless elegance of Blanc de Chine porcelain to immersive digital worlds inspired by ancient myth, the city's galleries and museums offer a feast for the senses.
Explore French masterpieces from the Musée d'Orsay, dive into cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) art, or experience the playful charm of contemporary comics and design.
This season, Shanghai doesn't just host exhibitions – it becomes an experience in itself.
Pure by Nature: The Art of Blanc de Chine
The exhibition "Pure by Nature: The Art of Blanc de Chine" opened at China Art Museum as a major event of the 36th Shanghai Tourism Festival. Featuring over 200 fine porcelain pieces, the exhibition showcases the beauty, heritage, and contemporary innovation of white porcelain.
It explores the cultural essence and global value of Dehua ceramics. Five master artisans demonstrate traditional techniques such as porcelain painting and sculpting, offering visitors an immersive and hands-on artistic experience.
Date: July 18-September 19, 10am-6pm (closed on Mondays)
Venue: China Art Museum, Shanghai 中华艺术宫
Address: 205 Shangnan Rd, Pudong New Area
浦东新区上南路205号
Amazing Zhulong
The first immersive naked-eye 3D installation art display focused on mythological creatures from "Shan Hai Jing," or "Classic of Mountains and Seas," opened on July 15 at China Art Museum.
As one of the core events of the 2025 Shanghai Tourism Festival, "Amazing Zhulong" is not only a modern visual feast but also a breakthrough in classic narrative and a perfect mix of fine traditional culture and current digital art aesthetics.
Date: July 15-October 8, 10am-6pm (closed on Mondays)
Venue: China Art Museum, Shanghai 中华艺术宫
Address: 205 Shangnan Rd, Pudong New Area
浦东新区上南路205号
Admission: 98 yuan, 58 yuan for an early bird ticket.
The 5th Ding Cong International Cartoon and Illustration Exhibition
Focusing on comic-style intangible cultural heritage, the 5th Ding Cong International Cartoon and Illustration Exhibition creatively reinterprets traditional culture with humor and modern expression. Featuring over 300 works across four major sections, it takes visitors on a journey through time and space.
Specially created comic works inspired by Shanghai's Fengjing Ancient Town are also on display. The show builds a vibrant bridge between tradition and modernity, giving comic art a fresh voice in a historic setting.
Date: August 5-31, 9am-5pm (closed on Mondays)
Venue: Liu Haisu Art Museum 刘海粟美术馆
Address: 1609 Yan'an Rd W., Changning District 长宁区延安西路1609号
A Walk on the Wild Side: Artworks from the Collection de l'Art Brut and Elsewhere.
The Power Station of Art, in collaboration with the Collection de l'Art Brut in Lausanne, is hosting the exhibition A Walk on the Wild Side: Artworks from the Collection de l'Art Brut and Elsewhere.
This exhibition marks the debut of French artist Jean Dubuffet's renowned Art Brut collection in China, representing the largest display of its kind in the country.
Date: Through October 12, 11am-7pm (closed on Mondays)
Venue: 2/F, Power Station of Art 上海当代艺术博物馆
Address: 678 Miaojiang Rd, Huangpu District 黄浦区苗江路678号
Admission: 60 yuan
Feng Zikai Art Exhibition: Life Passes, Art Endures
In honor of the 65th anniversary of the Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy and the 50th anniversary of Feng Zikai's passing, a special exhibition will open on August 8. Titled "Life Passes, Art Endures," it features 101 selected works that reflect Feng's poetic, humorous, and philosophical art style.
The show presents nearly 200 pieces, including rare family-held artworks on public view for the first time. As the Academy's first director, Feng Zikai is remembered as a painter, calligrapher, translator, essayist and educator whose legacy continues to inspire.
Date: August 8-September 7, 10am-6pm (closed on Mondays)
Venue: Cheng Shifa Art Museum 程十发美术馆
Address: 1398 Hongqiao Rd, Changning District 长宁区虹桥路1398号
Paths to Modernity: Musée d'Orsay's Paris
"Paths to Modernity: Masterpieces from the Musée d'Orsay, Paris," currently on at the Museum of Art Pudong, is surely one of the must-see exhibitions this summer in Shanghai.
As the largest showcase ever mounted by the Musée d'Orsay in China, the exhibition brings over 100 masterpieces of French art from the 1840s to the early 20th century, encompassing nearly all major artistic movements represented in the Musée d'Orsay's collection – from Academicism to Realism and Naturalism, through Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism, to Post-Impressionism and the Nabis.
Date: Through October 12, 10am-9pm
Venue: Museum of Art Pudong 浦东美术馆
Address: 2777 Binjiang Avenue, Pudong New Area 浦东新区滨江大道2777号
Admission: 80 yuan
Yitisiga: Graphic Design in Japan
The Japan Graphic Designers Association, one of Asia's most influential graphic design organizations, has brought the exhibition "Yitisiga: Graphic Design in Japan" to Shanghai's iconic Bund for the first time as part of a China tour.
Boasting the largest and most comprehensive Japanese graphic design exhibition ever held in China, the event, hosted in partnership with Fosun Foundation and the Japan Foundation, features over 300 original works by renowned designers.
Date: Through August 23
Venue: Fosun Foundation上海复星艺术中心
Address: 600 Zhongshan Rd E2, Huangpu District 黄浦区中山东二路600号
Admission: 68-118 yuan
Promtoscape
"Promptoscape: International AI Art Documentation Exhibition" explores the current state and future of artificial intelligence in art. Featuring around 20 works by artists from 10 countries, the show combines research, representative AI projects, and new media artworks.
It investigates how human creativity and machine intelligence coexist and compete. "Promptoscape" merges the ideas of prompts, landscapes, and acceleration, inviting viewers into a multi-sensory, concept-driven space shaped by AI-generated imagination.
Date: Through November 30
Venue: 5-6F, Shanghai Minsheng Art Museum上海民生现代美术馆
Address: 48 Weihai Rd, Huangpu District 黄浦区威海路48号
Admission: 30-60 yuan
Revolutionary Art: Special Exhibition of Thematic Art in New China
To mark the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance and World Anti-Fascist War, Long Museum (West Bund) is hosting a special exhibition. The exhibition highlights the evolution of state-themed art in New China through detailed case studies.
Featuring over 150 works, including oil paintings, Chinese ink paintings, prints, sketches, sculptures and propaganda posters, the show reflects the historical development and lasting influence of themed art from the 1930s onward on modern Chinese art.
Date: Through November 2
Venue: Long Museum West Bund 西岸龙美术馆
Address: 3398 Longteng Avenue, Xuhui District 徐汇区龙腾大道3398号
Admission: 140-200 yuan
The Exhibition of Annual of Contemporary Art of China, Shanghai, 2024
The Exhibition of Annual of Contemporary Art of China, Shanghai, 2024 is an annual record, review and presentation of the status quo of contemporary art in China, in a way that combines documents and art works. This is also the sixth time that the exhibition has been held in Shanghai.
The exhibition concentrates on presenting a compendium and explication of the new phenomena and issues of the past year in China's contemporary art scene, which is in itself art, not science. In the process of modernization, modern science and art together carry many facets of the human spirit, and today's ever-changing digital intelligence.
Date: Through October 8, 10am-6pm (closed on Mondays)
Venue: Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art 上海多伦现代美术馆
Address: 27 Duolun Rd, Hongkou District 虹口区多伦路27号
TA: Higher Heights
The Dunhuang Contemporary Art Museum, in collaboration with the Gansu Provincial Museum, presents a major exhibition titled TA: Higher Heights.
The exhibition explores the theme of ta 塔, or towers, examining their significance and transformation within Chinese culture through the perspectives of space, ritual, and literature. It also highlights the rich tapestry of ideas that intersected and flourished along the ancient Silk Road.
Dates: Through March 20, 2026, 10am-6pm (closed on Mondays)
Venue: 3/F, South Building, Changyang Campus, Dunhuang Contemporary Art Museum
敦煌当代美术馆,长阳创谷南三楼
Address: 1687 Changyang Rd, Yangpu District 杨浦区长阳路1687号
Admission:
Single ticket: 39 yuan
Child ticket: 9.9 yuan
The 6th "Imagery Sea:" Paper-Invitation Exhibition of Chinese and German Art in 2025
Focusing on works that highlight contemporary life, natural environments, and regional characteristics, the exhibition fosters cultural exchange and promotes contemporary Chinese values through dialogue with international artists.
In the exhibition of Chinese and German artists, it is interesting to observe how different methods on prototypes are reflected in the exhibited works, such as the relationship between empathy and boundaries. To what extent are these differences still reflected in artworks today?
Date: Through August 31, 9am-5:30pm (closed on Mondays)
Venue: Shanghai Hong Museum 上海鸿美术馆
Address: 11/F, 1818 Huangxing Rd, Yangpu District 杨浦区黄兴路1818号11楼
Shanghai-style Art
This major exhibition highlights both the collective vision and personal expression of Shanghai-style artists. Each artwork reflects a unique dialogue between artist and era, showcasing how Shanghai-style art preserves cultural roots while forging new styles through integration.
With strong academic, theoretical and historical dimensions, it offers visitors an immersive cultural space and affirms the artistic value and status of the Shanghai-style culture in Chinese art history.
Date: Through June 7, 2026, 9:30am-4:30pm (closed on Mondays)
Venue: 2/F, The Museum of Shanghai-style Art 上海海派艺术馆
Address: 1536 Xinzhen Rd, Minhang District 闵行区新镇路1536号
The Maijishan Grottoes: Eternal Arts Across Centuries
The Maijishan Grottoes: Eternal Arts Across Centuries exhibition is now open at the Powerlong Museum and will remain on view until October 26.
Located in the Maiji District of Tianshui City, northwestern Gansu Province, the Maijishan Grottoes trace their origins to the Later Qin period (384-417). Today, the site encompasses 221 caves, 3,938 sculptures, and over 1,000 square meters of murals, earning it recognition as one of China's four major grotto complexes. Throughout the exhibition period, the museum will host cultural programs and offer creative products that reflect the enduring legacy of the Maijishan Grottoes.
Dates: Through October 26, 10am-6pm (closed on Mondays)
Venue: Halls 7 and 8, Shanghai Powerlong Museum 上海宝龙美术馆
Address: 3055 Caobao Rd 漕宝路3055号
Admission: 75-148 yuan
Mun Chaeeun: The Quiet Gale
Bird Gallery proudly presents "The Quiet Gale," a solo exhibition by represented artist Mun Chaeeun. This exhibition systematically charts the evolution of Mun's practice over five years. Featuring seminal works from major series – with several pieces receiving their first gallery presentation – the exhibition offers critical insight into her artistic lexicon.
Date: Through August 24, 11am-7pm (closed on Mondays)
Venue: Bird Gallery 珀德画廊
Address: Rm 101, Bldg 20, 50 Moganshan Rd, Putuo District
普陀区莫干山路50号20号楼101室
Abode: Chen Chunfei Solo Exhibition
Curated by CSC Communis, supported by None Project, and opened to the public at None Project M50, this new series of artist Chen Chunfei's works offers a free, expansive reflection on personal memories. Breaking from traditional techniques and composition, Chen liberates her canvases, making emotion and image more immediate and intuitive.
Date: Through August 19, 11am-6pm (closed on Mondays&Tuesdays)
Venue: M50
Address: 4B-101, Bldg 4, 50 Moganshan Rd, Putuo District
普陀区莫干山路50号4号楼B座101室
Gao Zhenxi: A Mellow Evening
Featuring nearly 20 new works by Gao Zhenxi, the exhibition reflects a meditative exploration of "night" as a quiet moment of self-reflection and spiritual dialogue beyond surface noise.
Through richer, deeper colors, the artist expresses the complexity of human contradictions and the heightened sensitivity one feels when confronting the inner self. The works invite viewers into a space of contemplation and emotional honesty.
Date: Through August 26, 9am-6pm (closed on Mondays)
Venue: Line Gallery Shanghai 玉兰堂
Address: 490 Suzhou Rd N., Jing'an District 静安区北苏州路490号
Almost Molting
Inspired by the paradox revealed by poet Rainer Maria Rilke in his Duino Elegies, this exhibition explores states of being that are symptomatic of psychological or cultural conditions, in which meaning is perpetually deferred through difference.
Originating in profound desires and drifting through the peripheries of perception, they evoke a complex effect interwoven with allure and the uncanny. The artists collectively focus on these elusive states of being, tracing the alternative trajectories these states slip into within the deferral of meaning.
Date: Through September 6, 10:30am-6pm (closed on Sundays & Mondays)
Venue: Arario Gallery Shanghai 阿拉里奥画廊
Address: 2F-205, 30 Wen'an Rd, Jing'an District 静安区文安路30号L205室
The Aura River
Bluerider Art will host "The Aura River," featuring 27 emerging artists born after 1985 as part of its second national youth art program.
Inspired by Walter Benjamin's concept of "Aura," the exhibition explores how young artists reclaim mystery, presence, and authenticity in a digital era shaped by mass reproduction, social media and fleeting images.
Date: August 23-October 19, 10am-7pm (closed on Mondays)
Venue: Bluerider Art 上海·外滩 蓝骑士艺术
Address: 133 Sichuan Rd M., Huangpu District 黄浦区四川中路133号