June 12–August 15, 2026
YDP announces Unlicensed Goods, a major survey exhibition of Asian and Asian diasporic artists exploring the ad hoc networks and shadow economies that accompany the global movements of manufactured goods and migrant communities.
The exhibition brings together more than thirty historical and contemporary artists, designers, artist duos and collectives, including Chu Ming Silveira, Ming Fay, Firenze Lai, Ghislaine Leung, Gala Porras-Kim, Lin May Saeed, Sung Tieu and Martin Wong, among others, as well as featuring new commissions by Ivan Cheng, Steph Huang, Anthea Hamilton, Rie Nakajima and A Sai Ta.
Unlicensed Goods engages with the friction, co-dependence and short circuits between formal and informal systems of production. Through the lens of immigrant experience and resilience, this exhibition traces overlooked histories and alternative concepts of authorship that continue to shape contemporary art.
Inspired by the proximities and overlaps between underground and mainstream circulations of manufactured objects and stories, Unlicensed Goods surveys practices and initiatives at the intersection of art, design and fashion. The exhibition marks the first major group survey since the opening of YDP. Occupying the entirety of the building with a combination of site-specific commissions, spatial interventions and existing works, the exhibition reflects on the material realities of globalised production. It examines questions of cultural access and exclusion, collaborative and collective forms of production that challenge singular authorship and modes of immigrant survival within environments that remain indifferent to—or actively erase—the visibility of outsiders.
Curated by Billy Tang, Artistic Director at YDP
Artists
Yuji Agematsu, Enzo Camacho & Ami Lien, Canal Street Research Association, Ivan Cheng, Chu Ming Silveira, Epoxy Art Group, Merve Ertufan & Mochu, Ming Fay, Ha Bik Chuen, Anthea Hamilton, Steph Huang, Reena Saini Kallat, Özgür Kar, Firenze Lai, Philip Lai, Dan Lie, Ghislaine Leung, Lin May Saeed, Liu Chuang, David Medalla, Ruoru Mou, Rie Nakajima, Christian Kōun Alborz Oldham with Kosen Ohtsubo, Paul Pfieffer, Gala Porras-Kim, Hassan Sharif, Shanzhai Lyric, Sine Screen, Su Chang Design Research Office, A Sai Ta, Sung Tieu, Wang Xu, Yuyan Wang, Kaisik Wong, Martin Wong, Tobias Wong, Carrie Yamaoka, Amy Yao, Trevor Yeung.
About YDP
Emerging from Asian backgrounds and drawing upon a multitude of diasporic experiences, YDP amplifies artists’ voices and responds to their needs through a programme of exhibitions, residencies and artist-led experiments.
YDP learns from and grows alongside artists, taking time to reflect on and present contemporary practices. Taking a flexible approach, it explores new models for nurturing creativity and criticality.
YDP’s home on Bedford Square is a convivial space where we exchange ideas, form bonds and imagine the future of art. YDP lets an open and transcultural spirit guide its work.
YDP is an independent, non-profit project space where everyone is welcome, founded by London-based arts philanthropist Yan Du.
Address: 19 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3JA / Website: ydp.co / Instagram: @ydp_space
For media enquiries, please contact: Cindy Ziyun Huang / cindy@ydp.co.
