Cao Fei solo show in Basel explores AI and life in the near future

In short: Kunstmuseum Basel | Gegenwart will host Cao Fei’s first solo exhibition in Switzerland, a city-like installation about technology, AI, and everyday human life.

What happened

Kunstmuseum Basel | Gegenwart is presenting a large solo exhibition by Chinese artist Cao Fei titled “Testimonies to the Near Future.” It runs from May 30 to October 11, 2026.

The museum says Cao Fei will transform the entire Gegenwart building into an immersive environment in the form of a city. That means visitors will move through different spaces like neighborhoods, with videos, sound, and installations forming one connected experience.

The exhibition focuses on how digital life, automation, and artificial intelligence shape the world people live in. AI here means computer systems that can make decisions or predictions, like software that helps run a warehouse or sorts deliveries. The museum also points to VA, meaning virtual assistants or virtual agents, which are software helpers like a customer service chat that talks to you.

Several well-known works are highlighted as centerpieces. “Whose Utopia” (2006) is filmed in an electronics factory and contrasts repetitive work with workers’ personal dreams. “Asia One” (2018) is set in an automated logistics center, a warehouse where machines do much of the work and only a few people remain. “RMB City” (2007–) explores life in a virtual city built in an online world, like a digital version of a place you can visit and inhabit.

Why it matters

Many people hear about AI through phones and apps, but Cao Fei’s show treats AI as part of the background systems that shape jobs, cities, and relationships, like plumbing you do not see until it changes. The exhibition is a public, non-technical way to think about what happens to human stories, choices, and community when more of daily life is organized by software.

Source: NYTimes