The Urban Digital Canvas Exhibition will take place as part of the 3rd Shanghai International Light Festival in the Changning District of Shanghai and will run 24 September 2026 until 15 October 2026. This project, a collaboration between the ACM SIGGRAPH Digital Arts Community, the Chewing Theory Art Collective, and the City of Shanghai will showcase an international set of images and videos designed for site-specific display in the city.
Many cities around the world feature advanced digital screens in public areas, yet these often lack culturally meaningful content beyond advertisements. Our project transforms these screens for high-quality digital art, enhancing their cultural and educational value. This project aims to foster international cultural exchange by introducing outstanding global digital art works to Chinese audiences, and by bringing these site-specific urban digital installations to the attention of the ACM SIGGRAPH Digital Arts Community. We welcome submissions that take advantage of the site specific qualities of each display site. Projects will be shown in a loop, and in relation to other artworks around the city. Visitors will be encouraged to discover all the works as they travel through the city.
While the jury will consider a wide range of submissions, we are especially interested in work engaging with two key themes:
AI, Media & Urban Life
This theme offers an exploration of the connection between technology, urban life, and nature through the lens of AI. Generative AI affords new opportunities for both media creation and critical reflection on its impact. How can we reflect on those questions on site in the city itself?
Reimagining Cultural Legacies
Digital interpretations of traditional culture, including intangible cultural heritage and local folklore, have been an import part of the work of digital humanities, museology, and cultural organizations. How can we bring the that richness into our lived experience in contemporary urban environments?
On Site and Online
The exhibition opportunity will be presented at the ACM SIGGRAPH 2026 Conference as part of the Digital Arts Community programming.The exhibition itself will be archived on the ACM SIGGRAPH Digital Arts Community website after the on-site exhibition in Shanghai concludes. Project documentation will be showcased at future SIGGRAPH conferences, and hopefully inspire new Urban Digital Canvas interventions.
This exhibition will take place in the form of videos placed around the city on screens in the Changning District of Shanghai during the festival period.
Each exhibition site has specific parameters to consider when proposing a submission. Video works will typically play between 30 seconds and 2 minutes. Formats are generally MP4 (H264) and should be suitably scaled and appropriate to the viewing context. Details about each potential exhibition site are included below. Click images below to see larger versions of slides describing specific site details. (See also this PDF of the venue information.) Adaptations of existing work for these new contexts are welcome. While we ask for standard video to get a sense of your work, as part of your proposal we encourage upload of image mockups and descriptions of how you would edit your work to fit specific venues.
Potential contributors will submit their proposals on EasyChair. An international jury of reviewers from the SIGGRAPH Digital Arts Community, Chewing Theory, and the Shanghai city partners will make the final selections. The curatorial team will work with contributors to prepare final versions of media for exhibition onsite. Contributors will not need to be present in Shanghai for the exhibition.
Venues
Click on venue images below to enlarge them. See also the PDF of exhibition sites.
1.1 Main Facade – Crystal Bridge
This site is a LED facade system activated at night.
- Pixel: W430*H730
- Format: MP4, AVI
- Codec: H.264
- Audio: not supported (silent video)
1.2 Sunken Square Projection Zone – Jingyao Hongqiao
This is the back of the 1.1 Main Facade LED projection zone at Crystal Bridge. It is a !90m glass curtain wall facing inwards towards a central square. There is a central area of 36.4 meters with wings of 26.8 meters, with a panel height of 8.76 meters. This is the only venue that may include sound. The DAC showcase will follow a mapping show by the Changning District each night.
- single submission file of 9000x900px (or 12000x1200px – 10:1 aspect ratio) – note cutout for central screen area when selecting your proposed video
- Sound Supported
- MP4 H.264/5
- 30 seconds-2 minutes preferred (video will loop)
2.1 District Commercial Screens – Longemont
The District Commercial Screens are located at different points of the Changning District as noted below.
The Longemont site includes two screen faces, so would be ideal for anamorphic illusion/3D billboard effects. The other screens are of varying aspect ratios as noted below. Proposals for screens 2.2-6 will be considered together, with the understanding that contributors may be asked to adjust their videos to fit specific spaces.
- Left 2496×1984px
- Right 1024×1984px
- MP4/H.264
2.2 – 2.6 District Commercial Screens – Shanghai Book City, Nanfeng City 1 and 2, Huijin Department Store, Xinda Plaza
2.2 Shanghai Book City, 1057 Changning Road, 2048x1664px
2.3 Nanfeng City 1, 100 Zunyi Road, 2000x1040px
2.4 Nanfeng City 2, 100 Zunyi Road, 3100x1000px
2.5 Huijin Department Store, 900 Tianshan Rd, 1216x496px
2.6 Xinda Plaza, 320 Xianxia Rd, 3840x2160px
These screens scattered throughout the Changning District will show artwork intermixed with other images and videos, including commercial images, throughout the day for the duration of the festival.
The proposals for these sites will be considered together. Submit one standard format video for your proposal, and include any additional information about preferences or suitability for a specific sites in the Additional Notes section of the submission form. The curators will work with selected contributors to ensure file formats and aspect ratios are suitable to the venues selected.
- MP4
- HD 16:9 aspect ratio for submissions (to be adjusted/downsampled based on final exhibition site)
Submissions
The Submission Form is on EasyChair. You will need to create an account if you do not already have one. You may select multiple potential display venues for a specific video within a single proposal. (Please do a separate submission if you want us to consider an entirely distinct work.)
For purposes of the proposal, you may submit work in a standard horizontal or vertical video format (16:9, 4:3 etc). The submission form will also provide space to upload optional mock-up images and media to most closely match potential target screens. Pay close attention to the requirements for each site as you prepare your materials. Note the wide variety of aspect ratios, resolutions, and durations needed. The curatorial team will work with the selected artists to adapt their work for the show.
Your options for possible display will be:
- 1.1 Main Facade Crystal Bridge (Embedded LED Building Display; 430x730x)
- 1.2 Sunken Square Projection Zone (9000x900px; possible sound)
- 2.1 Longemont Wrap-Around Screen (Left 2496×1984px and Right 1024×1984px channels)
- 2.2-6 District Commercial Screens (varying sizes and ratios; submit standard video dimensions for your initial proposal)
If your video is selected for inclusion in the exhibition, you will be asked to create an appropriately formatted version of your work. Again, the curatorial team may ask for further changes as needed, and/or make necessary edits to fit the targeted screens. This is part of the experience of working towards site-specific installation and contextualization. All final selections will also be reviewed and approved by the Changning District officials in Shanghai before formal inclusion in the program.
The exhibition will be documented on the ACM SIGGRAPH Digital Arts Community website and showcased at future SIGGRAPH conferences.
EasyChair Submission Form
https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=siggraph-dac-urbandi0
Victoria Szabo is a Research Professor of Visual and Media Studies and Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies at Duke University. She also directs the Information Science + Studies Program and the PhD in Computational Media, Arts & Cultures. She has a PhD in Victorian Literature and Culture and works in digital humanities and media art, with an emphasis on location-based urban histories, multimodal cultural heritage, and digital storytelling. Before moving to Duke, she worked in Academic Technology at Stanford University. She is also part of the Psychasthenia Studio Art collaborative and the international Visualizing Cities consortium. She has been involved in a variety of SIGGRAPH Art-related roles, including SIGGRAPH Art Gallery Chair, Art Papers Chair, Art Papers Chair for SIGGRAPH Asia, Chair of the Year-Round Digital Arts Community for the Org, and is the current Chair of the Arts Advisory Group. She is also part of the SIGGRAPH Governance Committee. Victoria is the Art Papers Chair for SIGGRAPH 2025.