Chinese New Year event Art Institute of Chicago Not Free this year
When: Saturday, February 8, 2020, Drop in 1:00–4:30pm. Procession at 5:00pm to Maggie Daley Park
Where: Art Institute of Chicago, This years event is being held in Griffin Court and not the Ryan Learning Center (which is undergoing remodeling) so this event is only Free with museum admission, no registration required.
Celebrate the Lunar New Year with art-making activities, games, performances, an artist demonstration, and gallery talks in English, and also available in Mandarin. At 5:00 head across the street from the Modern Wing on Monroe in Millennium Park for a special lantern procession, and continue the celebration at Maggie Daley Park. Anyone can join the procession to Maggie Daley Park.
ACTIVITIES
All activities are free with museum admission and for all ages unless otherwise noted.
Paper Cutting Demonstration
Griffin Court
1:00, 2:00, 3:00, and 4:00 (30 minutes each)
Watch artist Lucy P. Liu create traditional Chinese paper cuttings (jiǎn zhǐ) to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
Gallery Talks
Meet in Gallery 100
1:00–4:00, every 30 minutes (15 minutes each)
Maximum group size: 20
Adults and children ages 12 and up
Hear short talks in the Asian galleries exploring trade routes, Korean moon jars, the Phoenix panels, and 18th-century Japanese calendar prints known as egoyomi.
Play Weiqi (Go, baduk)
Alsdorf Galleries
Drop in 1:00–4:30
Enjoy a strategy board game invented in China over 2,500 years ago and played by more than 20 million people in Japan, Korea, and many other places.
Play Xiangqi (Chinese Chess, cờ tướng)
Gallery 144
Drop in 1:00–4:30
Play a board game popular in China and Vietnam, and similar to strategy games like western chess, Chaturanga or Indian chess, Shogi, and Janggi.
Paper Lanterns
Outside the Chicago Stock Exchange Trading Room
Drop in 1:00–4:30
Create a paper lantern using seasonal designs. Pick up a wooden handle in the Modern Wing lobby to carry your lantern as you leave the museum for the lantern procession.
The Great Zodiac Animal Race
Chicago Stock Exchange Trading Room
1:30 and 3:00 (20 minutes)
Chicago Puppet Studio retells the classic Lunar New Year zodiac tale with shadow puppet animals inspired by Asian languages and pictograms and live music by Tatsu Aoki.
Percussion Performance
Griffin Court
2:30 and 3:30 (20 minutes each)
Kioto Aoki plays the tsuzumi, a small Japanese hand drum, and two large drums used in taiko ensembles.
Chinese Lantern Procession
Head across the street at 5:30pm to light up the night with a lion-dance led lantern procession from Millennium Park to Maggie Daley Park, followed by more New Year’s activities, including a lion dance finale, arts and crafts, and ice skating. Presented in partnership with the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago Parks District and Choose Chicago.
