China Institute Gallery

Upcoming Exhibitions and Events

China Institute Gallery is temporarily closed for maintenance through Fall 2022.
But our virtual doors are wide open!

We are now offering vibrant digital content, providing access to our past exhibits and the field of Chinese art. Our online Art Workshops offer interactive exercises for schoolchildren and families, and you can now enjoy our exhibits from the comfort of your couch. We have also launched a Chinese art blog on the Institute’s social media channels via #ArtFriday. Explore our virtual gallery portal >>

Upcoming Exhibitions Currently Scheduled Through 2023

*Exhibition titles and dates subject to change

Zun wine vessel in the shape of an owl, 12th century BCE, Bronze, 12 1/4 × 7 3/16 × 8 1/4 in., 8.2 lb. (31.12 × 18.26 × 20.96 cm, 3.7 kg). Bequest of Alfred F. Pillsbury, Minneapolis Institute of Art (Museum no. 50.46.116)

Eternal Offerings: Chinese Ritual Bronzes from the Minneapolis Institute of Art

Opening Fall 2022

This exhibition drawn from the renowned Pillsbury collection will display nearly 80 ancient works from the Shang to Qing dynasties exploring Chinese ritual practices through different historical lenses.

Curator: Liu Yang

Organized by the Minneapolis Institute of Art

Generous support for the exhibition and related catalogue provided by the Blakemore Foundation, the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor, the Bei Shan Tang Foundation, the Henry Luce Foundation, and Christie’s.

Flowers on a River: The Art of Chinese Flower and Bird Painting, Masterworks from Tianjin Museum and Changzhou Museum

Opening Spring 2023

Flower and Bird is one of China’s most highly respected art forms, along with landscape and figure painting. China Institute Gallery will embark on a systematic analysis of the genre’s Imperial, Literati, Eccentric School, and Stylized Composition paintings alongside their associated use in Chinese life. Making its international debut, this exhibition will present the genre’s major masterworks through the Ming and Qing dynasties, featuring one of the world’s most renowned paintings, Bada Shanren’s handscroll, “Flowers on a River.”

Curators: Willow Weilan Hai, Chen Zhuo, Lin Jian and David Ake Sensabaugh

Organized by China Institute Gallery, the Tianjin Museum, and Changzhou Museum


Bada Shanren (1626–1705), Flowers on a River (detail), 1697, Ink on paper, Tianjin Museum (Museum no. 58.5.372)

Ashoka Stupa, Song dynasty, H. 47 1/4 in. (120 cm), W. (pedestal) 15 3/4 in. (40 cm). Unearthed in 2008 from the Changgan Temple outside the Zhonghua Gate in Nanjing, Nanjing Museum Administration.

Treasures for Buddha: The Legendary Offerings from Nanjing Dabao’en Temple

Opening Fall 2023

China’s best Ashoka Stupa was unearthed from the underground palace at the site of Dabao’en Temple in Nanjing in 2008, with various accompanying treasures that reflect the practice of 11th-century Buddhist offerings. Introduced for the first time in New York to a global audience, this exhibition will also reveal the legend of the renowned Dabao’en Temple, which was ordered to be built by the Yongle Emperor in 1412, along with a nine-story-high pagoda known in the west as the “porcelain tower,” a Wonder of the Medieval World.

Curators: Cao Zhijun, Wu Tian
Directed by: Willow Weilan Hai

Organized by China Institute Gallery and Nanjing Museum Administration