“Heaven and Earth: The Garden of Cosmos”
Performance Activation By Bingyi
Hosted by The Morgan Library & Museum
New York City | Sunday, October 5, 2025
Performance Times: 2:00 PM and 3:00 PM
Tickets Free with Museum Admission
Curated by FSA Curator-at-Large, Leeza Ahmady
The Foundation for Spirituality and the Arts, in collaboration with the Morgan Library & Museum presents: Heaven and Earth: The Garden of Cosmos by Beijing and Los Angeles–based artist and scholar Bingyi.
The performance is a direct, contemporary response to the Morgan Library’s fall exhibition Sing A New Song: The Psalms in Medieval Art and Life. Traditionally attributed to King David, the Hebrew Book of Psalms is a collection of sacred poems that express a wide range of human emotions, including lamentation, praise, gratitude, and awe. The exhibition traces how these verses shaped spiritual practices, artistic expression, and everyday life in medieval Europe, from children’s prayers to deathbed rituals, and inspired the creation of some of the most richly illuminated manuscripts in history.
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 texts and Chinese philosophical traditions, she reimagines the Morgan Library courtyard—a serene, contemplative space—as a living manuscript in motion: a sacred environment where movement, sound, and architecture converge in ritual expression. Uniting the ancient power of chant and sacred verse, Bingyi collaborates with Tibetan ritual master Nanmei and Yi singer Aluo. Their unique alliance creates a portal between form and formlessness, inviting the audience into a contemplative encounter with the divine presence that traverses Buddhist, Taoist, and Judeo-Christian cosmologies.
Clad in a flowing, ink-painted rice-paper garment that evokes the stillness of Zazen, Bingyi enacts her meditative offering—a living praise song to the harmony between heaven, earth, and the boundless cosmos—echoing Psalm 104’s eloquent exaltation of the divine order of creation.
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.
