The Thousand Bloom uses the chrysanthemum as a metaphor for Boston Chinatown’s resilience in a nod to popular novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. It celebrates the neighborhood’s rich legacy and enduring spirit.
Part of this project includes gathering for Chinatown’s first ever Double Ninth Festival, a time to care for and appreciate the elderly. Watch performances, warm up with qi gong, and enjoy Chinese square dancing, among other activities, and take home a bouquet from the art installation.
Access the festival program online here.
Event Schedule:
3:00 PM Nuwa Athletic Club Lion Dance Performance
3:10 PM Opening Remarks with Guest Speakers
3:30 PM "Unity is Strength" by Chinatown Residents (Chinese Progressive Association)
3:45 PM Qi Gong Session Led by Woo Ching White Crane School 4:00 PM Chinese Square Dancing
4:35 PM Acknowledgments and Testimonials, with Giveaways 4:50 PM Flower Bouquet Distribution
Ongoing Activities:
Make a card, Take a card
Get creative with texture rubbing! Craft your own unique cards to take home or leave for someone else to enjoy.
Chinatown: What makes you smile?
Share your vision of joy in Chinatown 99 years from now. This collaborative vision will be transformed into a puzzle and serve as a time capsule, preserving community memories for generations to come.
About the Thousand Bloom:
The Thousand Bloom: A Chrysanthemum Grows in Chinatown is a public art installation using 1,000 silk chrysanthemums bundled into bouquets that form a larger, collective bloom and become a visual metaphor for Chinatown itself: a neighborhood shaped by the strength and contributions of many individuals.
Rather than focusing on static, grand structures, The Thousand Bloom shifts the concept of a monument toward the collective memory and lived experiences of the community itself. The project encourages public participation, inviting attendees to become part of the art through dance, conversation, and creation. The activities encourage intergenerational interactions, bringing elders and youth together to celebrate Chinatown’s past, present, and future.
The Thousand Bloom – A Chrysanthemum Grows in Chinatown 千朵花開:唐人街長出一朵菊花 is part of the Un-monument Initiative presented by Pao Arts Center, curated by Lani Asunción, in collaboration with the City of Boston Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture. It is brought to you by a grant from the Mellon Foundation.
Anita Yip (she/her)
Anita Yip is a multidisciplinary artist whose works honor and uplift underheard voices and cultures through documentary photography, journalism, curated experiences, and new media. Exploring the intricate relationships between art, archives, and identity within the interplay of cultural truths and fictions, she poses the question: "What is remembered, and what is lost?" Her art confronts and mediates painful experiences, lack of representation, and scarcity or even the absence of resources. Inspired by her life in Boston Chinatown, a neighborhood with limited green spaces, Anita's art embodies a longing for nature, inviting viewers to find beauty, renewal, and strength in what is overlooked, unseen, and no longer visible.
