NEWLY OPENED EXHIBITION
Horse. Circa 14th-early 18th century. China. Wood with brushed brown lacquer. H. 8 x L. 14 3/4 x W. 5 1/2 in. (20.3 x 37.5 x 14 cm). Asia Society, New York: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, 1979.121
Year of the Fire Horse
January 14 2026 – March 1, 2026
Free Exhibit in Visitor Center
Welcome the Year of the Fire Horse with our special display of equine sculptures in the Visitor Center.
Symbolizing immense prowess across Asia, the horse was seen as an emblem of success and elevated social status dating back to the fourth century. It is likely that horses were domesticated during the late Neolithic period, around 2500 B.C., and were first introduced to China as means of transportation by bowmen living in Southeastern Europe and Western Asia shortly before 300 B.C. Horses were used not only for transportation along trade routes but also as chargers in war and
were bred as such.
This Lunar New Year, which begins on February 17, 2026, is the Year of the Fire Horse. One of the earliest known mentions of the horse in the context of the zodiac is from The Book of Songs (circa 11th–7th BCE), a foundational text in Chinese culture. Another early mention occurs in a popular Chinese Daoist legend, in which the Jade Emperor held a race for all animals in pursuit of selecting the first twelve to finish as animals of the zodiac cycle. Throughout the cycle, one animal is associated with one of the Five Elements each year: Metal, Water, Wood, Fire, and Earth.
The intersection of the two is thought to determine the qualities and personality of a person born during that zodiac year, with each element bringing out different attributes. (Asia Society’s founder John D. Rockefeller 3rd was born in a Year of the Fire Horse, in 1906.) For 2026, the Year of the Fire Horse is expected to bring to the world a cycle of heightened passion, boldness, energy, and courage.
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RECENTLY CLOSED EXHIBITIONS
Howardena Pindell, Autobiography: India (Lakshmi), 1984, mixed media collage on paper. 18 x 20 1/2 x 2 in. (45.7 x 52.1 x 5.1 cm); Courtesy of the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York
(Re)Generations: Rina Banerjee, Byron Kim, and Howardena Pindell amid the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection
March 4, 2025 – January 4, 2026 (newly extended)
Patrons Preview Tour: Monday, March 3, 5:30-6pm
Members-Only Opening: Monday, March 3, 6-9pm
This exhibition reintroduces key works in Asia Society Museum’s Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection of pre-modern Asian art through the lenses of three leading contemporary artists: Rina Banerjee, Byron Kim, and Howardena Pindell. Each artist has selected a number of works in the collection within which to situate their own new and existing works, approaching historic objects in the collection through their practices and from multiple cultures, heritages, and positions. Creating dialogues across multiple histories and places, these artists offer a range of new insights and entry points into the collection.
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Platter, Yuan period, mid-14th century, China, Jiangxi Province, porcelain painted with underglaze cobalt blue (Jingdezhen ware), h. 3 in. x diam. 18 3/8 in. (7.6 x 46.7 cm); Asia Society, New York: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, 1979.151.
Imperial Treasures: Chinese Ceramics of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties from the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection
February 18, 2025 – January 4, 2026 (newly extended)
Known for exquisite porcelain production and expansive trade, the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) represents a period of Chinese imperial rule between the fall of the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) and the rise of the Manchu Qing dynasty (1644–1911). The approximately 20 works selected for this exhibition demonstrate how early Ming ceramics inherited the rich and culturally diverse legacy of the Mongol rulers by adopting foreign influences through vibrant trade with the Islamic and Central Asian worlds and combining them with indigenous Chinese traditions.
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Busy, Busy Towns: Moving Images of a Changing Asia
September 2, 2025 – January 4, 2026
This selection of works from the Asia Society Museum Collection explore how rapidly evolving cultural, political, and ecological issues have shaped urban landscapes across contemporary Asia, and in particular China, Indonesia, and Taiwan. The exhibition presents seven works featuring the artists Song Dong, Chen Shaoxiong, Tromarama, and Chen Chieh-jen. The innovative range of styles implemented to produce these moving images—through stop-motion animation of woodcuts, ink painting, or embroidery—among other methods, speaks to the creative depth and diversity of the region. The artists explore the dynamic energy of cities, whether fueled by consumerism and gentrification or by collapsing industries and environmental degradation. Actively reflecting on the regeneration of cityscapes and the subsequent impact on urban lives, these works initiate a renewed dialogue with the current exhibition, (Re)Generations: Rina Bannerjee, Bryon Kim, and Howardena Pindell amid the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection.
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Hiraki Sawa: Journeys in Place
March 4, 2025 – January 4, 2026 (newly extended)
Japanese-born and London-based Hiraki Sawa creates video works that explore psychological landscapes, unexpected worlds, and the playful interweaving of domestic and imaginary spaces. His works traverse specific, often personal, landscapes to consider memory, migration, and displacement. Asia Society invited Sawa to frame his video trail (2005), held in the museum’s collection, with a selection of works from the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, echoing the approach of the exhibition (Re)Generations in the museum’s 2nd- and 3rd-floor galleries. His selection of a small-scale pair of lion-dogs (flanking the video monitor) and bixies (mythical creatures) relate to the miniaturized camel who is the main protagonist of trail. Asia Society’s beloved elephant-headed sandstone Ganesha completes the display, bringing joy, good luck, and wealth to the many who venerate the popular deity.
Sawa’s trail is looped with his works fantasmagoria (2017) and pilgrim (2022), while the artist-made monitor box on view loops dwelling (2002) and elsewhere (2003). All five videos present abstracted montages of spaces that are intimate to the artist.
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