“Heaven and Earth: The Garden of Cosmos”
Performance Activation By Bingyi
The Morgan Library & Museum
New York City | Friday, October 10, 2025
Performance Times: 2:00 – 2:20 PM and 3:00 – 3:20 PM
In the Morgan Garden, Free with Museum Admission
Curated by FSA Curator-at-Large, Leeza Ahmady
The Morgan Library & Museum, in collaboration with the Foundation for Spirituality and the Arts (FSA), premiers Heaven and Earth: The Garden of Cosmos by Beijing and Los Angeles based artist and scholar Bingyi. This new performance work was conceived in conjunction with the Morgan Library & Museum’s fall exhibition, Sing A New Song: The Psalms in Medieval Art and Life.
Traditionally ascribed to King David, the Hebrew Book of Psalms is a collection of sacred poems that constitute the longest and most popular book of the Bible. These poems include expressions of lament and loss, petitions and confessions, as well as exclamations of joy and thanksgiving— universal themes that speak to what it means to be human.
Inspired by the timeless sentiments of Psalm 104—its reverence for creation, divine order, and cosmic harmony that transcend cultural boundaries—Bingyi authored an epic poem in Chinese that forms the foundation of this performance. Drawing on her longstanding engagement with both Abrahamic scriptures and Chinese philosophical traditions, she activates the Morgan Library & Museum Garden as a contemplative convergence of architecture, sound, and spirit.
Clad in a flowing, ink-painted rice-paper garment, the performance becomes an embodied meditation—a living praise song to the harmony of heaven, earth, and the boundless cosmos—echoing Psalm 104’s eloquent exaltation of divine order and creation. Collaborating with Tibetan ritual master Nanmei and Yi singer Aluo, Bingyi summons the ancient power of chant and sacred verse. Together, they forge a shared sacred space that traverses Taoist, Buddhist, and Judeo-Christian cosmologies—a portal between form and formlessness.
About the Artist:
Bingyi’s work embodies a profound spiritual connection with nature, time, and the unseen forces that shape our world. After early studies in biomedical and electronic engineering, she earned a Ph.D. in Art History and Archaeology from Yale (2005), where her dissertation focused on Han Dynasty art and its cosmological foundations.
Select Images
Bingyi, "Heaven and Earth: The Garden of Cosmos" (video still), 2025.
Bingyi, "Heaven and Earth: The Garden of Cosmos" (video still), 2025.
