Cao Fei and the museum presence of her digital worlds
Published on 06/18/2026 at 17:09 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Cao Fei has become one of the key artistic voices on globalization, digital culture and urban China. Her large-scale films and installations, from Whose Utopia to RMB City, connect factory floors, online worlds and everyday life with precise, often dystopian imagery.
Cao Fei in museum collections
Museums worldwide have collected major works by Cao Fei over the last decade, securing her position beyond the biennial circuit. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York holds her video work Whose Utopia (2006), a landmark of factory-floor portraiture in the Pearl River Delta.
Tate in London lists the three-channel video installation Haze and Fog (2013) in its collection, a slow-moving zombie allegory set in Beijing housing compounds. M+ in Hong Kong, focused on visual culture in Asia, has acquired works including RMB City, Cao Fei's long-term Second Life urban experiment.
How collections frame Cao Fei today
These acquisitions place Cao Fei alongside artists such as Ai Weiwei and Isaac Julien in the narrative of moving-image installation addressing globalization. They also ensure her films and environments circulate through collection displays, research projects and loan shows.
Institutions underline in their collection texts how Cao Fei addresses the psychic impact of rapid urbanization and platform capitalism, often through speculative or science-fiction devices. For many curators, this combination of documentary observation and virtual construction is central to her relevance.
All news and background on Cao Fei
For further reporting on exhibitions, collection entries and critical responses to Cao Fei, the AD HOC NEWS archive offers additional context and market data.
The core of Cao Fei's practice
Cao Fei works primarily with video, film, photography and large-scale multimedia installations. She often stages complex shoots in real workplaces and urban peripheries, then layers them with choreographed movement, virtual imagery or role-play-based performances.
Where the artist stands now
Against this backdrop, Cao Fei holds a consolidated position as a leading moving-image artist whose works are anchored in major museum collections in Europe, North America and Asia.
Key facts on Cao Fei
- Artist: Cao Fei
- Medium / Genre: Video, film and multimedia installation
- Born: 1978, Guangzhou, China
- Place(s) of practice: Studio in Beijing
- Active since: Late 1990s, with early videos and installations in Guangzhou and Beijing
- Key work groups: Whose Utopia, RMB City, Haze and Fog, La Town
- Current/last exhibition: Cao Fei: Duotopia, UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, March 2024 - June 2024
- Major collections: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York), Tate (London), M+ (Hong Kong)
- Awards: Chinese Contemporary Art Award (Best Young Artist, 2006), Future Generation Art Prize Special Prize (2010)
- Next date: currently no announced date in the 30-day window
Frequently asked questions about Cao Fei
Which museums hold major works by Cao Fei?
Important works by Cao Fei are part of collections at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, Tate in London and M+ in Hong Kong, among others.
What themes does Cao Fei explore in her films and installations?
Cao Fei addresses rapid urbanization, digital platforms, labor conditions and the psychological effects of globalization, often via speculative or science-fiction devices combined with documentary observation.
Which works are considered key to Cao Fei's career?
Key works include the factory-floor video Whose Utopia (2006), the online urban project RMB City (2007-2011), the Beijing-set Haze and Fog (2013) and the stop-motion film La Town (2014).
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