Taobao Opens Second "Ugly Things" Art Exhibition in Hangzhou, Doubling Scale of First Edition
Taobao's second Ugly Things Art Exhibition opens in Hangzhou from September 12–27, 2026, spanning 1,200 square meters and featuring 500+ platform products.
Taobao (淘宝) is staging its second Ugly Things Art Exhibition — titled "献丑了" (Xian Chou Le) — at Tianmu Li in Hangzhou from September 12 to 27, 2026. The exhibition spans more than 1,200 square meters, presents over 30 exhibition items, and showcases more than 500 Taobao commodities, making it roughly double the size of the first edition by floor area and scope.
The exhibition brings together award-winning works from past Taobao Ugly Things competitions alongside independent IP brands popular on Chinese social media, including Aesthetic Kwaai Frog (审美吉蛙), Pink Rabbit (粉红兔子), and Siamese Limpopo (暹罗厘普), as well as brands Wentonzi (问童子) and BEASTSTOWN (怪兽镇). The China Academy of Art, Cross-media Art Institute (中国美术学院跨媒体艺术学院) is a partner on the project. Entry is free by appointment.
Rather than presenting products as static displays, the exhibition transforms Taobao goods normally viewed on-screen into an interactive physical experience, incorporating changing spatial dimensions, miniature scenes, and interactive installations.
Taobao reports that the first edition of the exhibition drew an average of more than 3,000 visitors per day. By 2026, cumulative sales of Ugly Things-related products on the platform had reached 230 million yuan, with the associated product category reaching tens of millions of young consumers.
The exhibition reflects a broader pattern in Chinese e-commerce, where platforms use curated offline experiences to close the distance between scroll-and-buy shopping and the tactile qualities of physical retail — turning platform-native aesthetics and grassroots IP into cultural programming that reinforces consumer identity and brand loyalty.
