It may still be winter, but the vibrant hues of spring are blooming in the country’s premier orchid exhibition—the 20th annual Orchid Show returns to The New York Botanical Garden from February 18 through April 23, 2023. Featuring immersive installations of thousands of orchids, landscape artist, and this year’s guest designer, Lily Kwong transports guests to ethereal, reverent landscapes inspired by ancient Chinese garden design and artistic principles.
The Orchid Show: Natural Heritage explores the diversity, adaptability, and worldwide cultural significance of these formidable flowers. Inspired by classic paintings of Chinese mountainscapes passed down through her family from Shanghai, Kwong utilizes an extraordinary array of orchids—including iconic and rare specimens—enveloping visitors in towering mountainous forms that blend ecology, culture, and fantasy. Influenced by Kwong’s own heritage, medicinal traditions, and her artistic interpretation of nature as a healing force, the resulting experience beckons visitors into an immersive world in which humanity and nature coexist peacefully.
“This exhibition’s design is my most autobiographical work to date, and the piece took shape through meditation and exploration of my ancestral roots stretching back generations to Shanghai,” said Kwong. “As the first woman of color to step into the role as guest designer, it felt urgent to celebrate an Asian-centered perspective in the midst of this charged and precarious moment. The piece is meant to offer a bridge of cultural understanding across the valley between us, and act as an invitation to celebrate the diverse lineages that make up our country.”
Working in collaboration with Kwong to bring her vision to life, horticulturists and Exhibitions staff at NYBG have identified and assembled spectacular selections of orchids that are native to Asian countries and companion plantings. These flowers have been assembled to create dynamic displays that are not only visually dramatic and striking, but emotionally evocative, inspiring visitors to reflect on their own plant heritage and ancestry. The exhibition’s varied installations evoking ancient mountainous topographies invite visitors to experience the boundlessness of nature’s creativity and imagine a future where environmental harmony is restored.
“At a time when we are all starved for connection, the prayer of this installation is to offer a sense of community, reciprocity, and grounding into ancient wisdom and traditions that have guided us for millennia,” Kwong shares. “In traditional Chinese culture, flowers are the carriers of rich cultural information and have been revered by scholars for representing integrity, peace, and refinement. These beautiful and often elusive flowers invoke poetry and admiration, inspire entire scientific careers, and are a critical part of our ecosystems. Orchids are the perfect plant to draw people into the complexities of our relationships with the natural world and our vital roles nourishing those connections.”
Tickets for the exhibition are on sale now at nybg.org/orchidtickets. Take a look back at last year’s Orchid Show here.
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