Center for the Art of East Asia

Radiance Through the Ages: The Cultural Treasures and Digital Art Exhibition of
Guangsheng Temple

Linfen Museum, Shanxi, China | Oct 23, 2026 to Feb 22, 2027

Located at the southern foot of Mount Huo in Shanxi, Guangsheng Temple is a historic Buddhist monastery extensively rebuilt after the devastating earthquake of 1303. The temple preserves an extraordinary ensemble of Yuan- and Ming-dynasty architecture, sculpture, and mural painting, making it an important site for understanding the religious life of medieval China. Combining physical artifacts with immersive digital media, Radiance Through the Ages: The Cultural Treasures and Digital Art Exhibition of Guangsheng Temple opens up aspects of the temple that are difficult or no longer possible to experience on site. Visitors can explore the inner chamber of the Feihong Pagoda, participate in a reimagined rain-praying ritual inspired by the murals of the Water God Temple, and, through a VR experience, see monumental wall paintings now dispersed among overseas museums digitally restored to their original positions in the main hall of the Lower Temple.

Fragmented yet Connected: Paths to Wisdom at the Zhihua Temple

The Hong Kong Jockey Club University of Chicago Academic Complex, June 5, 2026 - December 4, 2026

Fragmented yet Connected: Paths to Wisdom at the Zhihua Temple is an immersive, interactive exhibition that digitally reunites dispersed cultural heritage and connects audiences to voices from the past. Centered on a digital reconstruction of the Ten Thousand Buddhas Pavilion (Wanfoge) within Beijing’s Ming-dynasty Zhihua Temple, the exhibition unfolds through interwoven narratives tracing the temple’s fifteenth-century origins and the early twentieth-century dispersal of its architectural components. With every choice made in the exhibition, visitors reconnect people and objects across time and place. 

Beyond Boundaries: Three Decades of Contemporary Chinese Art at the Smart 

Curated by Ellen Larson 
Smart Museum of Art, March 29–July 5, 2026

Beyond Boundaries foregrounds the University of Chicago’s pivotal role in studying and exhibiting contemporary Chinese art. Bringing together artworks acquired by the Museum over the last three decades, archival materials, as well as new work, the exhibition explores how artists navigate and challenge physical limitations across cultural, environmental, and political terrains. For more information, visit Beyond Boundaries: Three Decades of Contemporary Chinese Art at the Smart.

Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan
Smart Museum of Art, March 21–June 9, 2024
Co-curated by Dr Chelsea Foxwell, this landmark exhibition takes a fresh look at the art of Japan’s Meiji era (1868–1912), four remarkable decades that propelled the country into the modern era. For more information, visit Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan

Porcelain: Material and Storytelling
Curated by Wu Hung 
Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, February 15–March 6, 2022
For more information, visit Porcelain: Material and Storytelling, or download the exhibition booklet

Museum as a Classroom
Curated by Chelsea Foxwell
Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, April 9–June 13, 2021

The Allure of Matter: Material Art from China
Curated by Wu Hung and Orianna Cacchione
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, June 2, 2019–January 5, 2020
Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, February 7–May 3, 2020

Performing Images: Opera in Chinese Visual Culture
Curated by Judith Zeitlin and Yuhang Li
Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, February 13–June 15, 2014

Inspired by the Opera: Contemporary Chinese Photography and Video
Curated by Wu Hung
Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, February 13–June 15, 2014

Awash in Color: French and Japanese Prints
Curated by Anne Leonard and Chelsea Foxwell
Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, October 4, 2012–January 20, 2013

Echoes of the Past: The Buddhist Cave Temples of Xiangtangshan
Curated by Katherine Tsiang
Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, Sept 30, 2010–Jan 16, 2011
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institute, Feb 26–Jul 31, 2011
Meadows Museum, Southern Methodist University, Sept 11, 2011–Jan 8, 2012
San Diego Museum of Art, Feb 18–May 27, 2012
Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University, Sept 11, 2012–Jan 6, 2013

Displacement: The Three Gorges Dam Project and Contemporary Chinese Art
Curated by Wu Hung
Smart Museum of Art, October 2, 2008–January 25, 2009

Objects of Inquiry: The Buckley Collection of Japanese Art
Curated by Hans Thomsen
The Smart Museum of Art, October 4, 2007–January 6, 2008

Exported Visions: Early Twentieth-Century Japanese Woodblock Prints
Curated by Irene Backus
The Smart Museum of Art, March 17–June 10, 2007

Quiet Revolutions: Modernizing Traditional Art in East Asia
Curated by Kris Imants Ercums
The Smart Museum of Art, May 10–November 6, 2005

The Poetry of Shijo Surimono
Curated by Hans Thomsen
The Smart Museum of Art, September 17–December 11, 2005

Taisho Chic: Japanese Modernity, Nostalia, and Deco
Organized by the Honolulu Academy of Arts
The Smart Museum of Art, April 22–June 20, 2004

Visual Mantras: Meditative Traditions in Japanese Buddhist Art
Curated by Kris Imants Ercums
The Smart Museum of Art, October 2–February 22, 2004

Mapping the Sacred: Nineteenth-Century Japanese Buddhist Prints
Curated by Kris Imants Ercums
The Smart Museum of Art, December 13, 2003–March 28, 2004

Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China
Curated by Wu Hung and Christopher Phillips

• ICP and Asia Society, New York, June 11–September 5, 2004
• Smart Museum of Art and Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, October 2, 2004–January 16, 2005
• Seattle Art Museum, February 10–May 15, 2005
• Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, March–May, 2006
• Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Summer 2006

The Art of Mu Xin: Landscape Paintings and Prison Notes
The Smart Museum of Art, January 24–March 31, 2002

Canceled: Experimental Art in China
The Smart Museum of Art, November 19, 2000–January 7, 2001

Transience: Chinese Experimental Art at the End of the Twentieth Century
The Smart Museum of Art, February 18–April 18th, 1999