Explore the rich, complex, and often hidden histories of sexuality in Chinese art through this engaging program led by expert and enthusiast Wendy Chuwen Xiao. Centered on the visual language of traditional Chinese erotic painting and its resonances today, the session invites participants to consider how desire, intimacy, and the body have been represented, imagined, and interpreted across time.

About the Lecturer
Wendy Chuwen Xiao is a researcher and visual artist whose work explores the intersections of art history, material culture, and the history of sexuality in early modern China. She received her B.A. from the University of Chicago in History and Art History in 2022, and her M.A. from Harvard University in Regional Studies—East Asia in 2024.

Her research focuses on how objects generate and mediate fantasies of desire, with particular attention to visual, textual, and sensorial forms that challenge normative understandings of gender performativity and sexual morality. In her M.A. thesis, she examined an eighteenth-century Qing dynasty erotic album, arguing that its idiosyncratic visual language suggests it may have been produced for a female audience, offering new perspectives on viewership and agency in historical erotic art.

Alongside her academic work, Xiao maintains an active artistic practice, creating illustrations and paintings that reflect her engagement with image-making, narrative, and the expressive possibilities of form.

Join us at the 2nd Annual Englewood Summer Book Fest. Bring your loved ones out for an afternoon of books, community, and fun at Wood St. Collective Farm. There will be local authors & book vendors, live performance, a literary showcase, free food, family activities, community resources, giveaways and more!

CAMOC will be tabling at the Book Fest. Make sure to stop by and say hi!

In a society governed by patriarchal norms, how did two women in early modern China manage to forge a marriage together?

Join us for a night of storytelling, where we reanimate a 17th queer Chinese opera: The Fragrant Companion 憐香伴. 

The event opens with a vivid oral retelling of the story, with its original arias reimagined in new poetic translations in English. From there, we turn to the visual world of the play, exploring woodblock prints and other historical materials while discussing the rich performance culture of early modern China that brought such stories to life. We will also reflect on the opera’s themes and legacy, tracing how this remarkable tale has been reinterpreted across time and media. The evening culminates in a live demonstration, featuring selected scenes and excerpts that bring the emotional and theatrical power of the opera into the present.

Synopsis:

The opera takes place between two witty and pretty women: a newly-wed wife named Cui Jianyun and a girl called Cao Yuhua. These two female protagonists exhibit incredible agency throughout the story: drawn to each other at first sight, the two women immediately express their admiration for each other through an exchange of poetry; by the end of their second encounter, they have already performed a secret wedding ceremony and pledged to be together forever––in this life and all future lives, as their vows say; then, in the rest of the play, the lovers successfully plot a marriage between Cui’s husband and Cao so that the two could accompany each other forever under the façade of being wife and concubine.

About the lecturer:

Yiwen Wu is an artist-scholar, who’s currently a PhD candidate at the University of Chicago, in the joint program between Theater & Performance Studies and East Asian Languages & Civilizations. Her research centers on early modern East Asian performance culture, with a special interest on translations and adaptations of classical works on modern stages. As a theater practitioner, her credits of original puppet plays include Sattva (Special Recognition Award at the 2024 Wuzhen Theater Festival), The Story of Lady Li (Recipient of Jim Henson Foundation’s Artist Grant), and Living Rock (Nasty, Brutish, & Short at the 2024 Chicago International Puppet.

Celebrate spring with music, dance, and native prairie planting at the Set in Stone Gathering Space in the Burnham Wildlife Corridor.

🌷🍃🌸🌱🌳🌻

Join us for a free, all-ages performance and stewardship event led by Irene Hsiao and collaborators, in partnership with the Chinese American Museum of Chicago, Chinese Fine Arts Society, the Field Museum, and Chicago Park District’s Night Out in the Parks. Come together as a community to welcome spring awakening and new growth through music, dance, and hands-on native prairie planting.

🪴 Dress comfortably for the outdoors. Gloves, native prairie plants, and planting tools will be provided.

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Artists:

Irene Hsiao

Antonius-Tín Bui

Hunter Diamond

How to find Set in Stone Gathering Space

By car: Enter the parking lot at 641 E. 31st Street and proceed to the south end of the lot. Parking is free with RSVP.

By public transit: Take the #3 bus to King Drive and 31st Street, then walk half a mile east to the parking lot at 641 E. 31st St. Enter the lot and walk south.

By bicycle: Set in Stone is near the lake front trail at 31st St beach, walk west over DuSable Lake Shore Drive to find the lot to your left. A Divvy station is located on the bridge above DuSable Lake Shore Drive at 31st St.

You’re Invited! Enjoy festivities, food, and prizes to support CAMOC at our 25th Benefit Dinner.

🎉 🥢 🎊 🎶 💝 🥂

🗓️ Saturday, April 18th, 2026 | 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM (Doors open 5:00 PM)
📍New Furama Restaurant

The night’s offerings include:

🥢 A traditional Chinese full-course meal
🪭 Live performances
🎟️ Raffle prizes
🌟 Silent auction
🍾 Cash bar
🪩 Live DJ and dancing

Tickets on sale now! Become a CAMOC Partner by purchasing a Sponsorships Package or Ad.

CAMOC is proud to partner with artist Irene Hsiao to bring Guardians of the Earth and Sky to Chicago’s parks this summer!

This is an interactive, all-ages journey with the Four Celestial Guardians: the White Tiger of the West, Black Tortoise of the North, Azure Dragon of the East, and Vermilion Bird of the South.

Through storytelling, music, dance, tai chi, and art-making, you’ll explore connections between seasons, elements, colors, and constellations. Led by Irene and a multicultural ensemble of artists — fluent in languages from Mandarin and Cantonese to Spanish, Korean, and Swahili — this performance invites you to not just watch, but participate: walk alongside the Guardians, sing, move, and create your own headpiece to wear in the procession.

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Art supplies provided | Dress for walking ~1 mile

Learn more about this experience and the artists behind it!

CAMOC invites you to attend the 24th Benefit Dinner: Celebrating 20 Years Strong, Building 20 Years More!

This year marks the Chinese American Museum of Chicago’s 20th year. Join us as we celebrate together and raise critical funds necessary to continue to do the work we do.

We look forward to seeing you and the CAMOC community over a traditional full-course Chinese banquet dinner, live performances, raffle prizes, silent auction, dessert bar, live DJ, dancing, and more.

Thank you for supporting the museum and Chinese American stories!

A heartfelt thank you to all our auction sponsors for making this event possible:

This event is brought to you by our partnership with Chicago Park District, Field Museum, and The Nature Conservancy

Come celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival 2024! 

Join us on Sat, Sep 21, 2024 at 5:00 PM at the beautiful Set in Stone Gathering Space in the Burnham Wildlife Corridor.

Get ready for an evening celebrating the Harvest Moon with music, live performances, delicious Chinese mooncakes, bubble tea, fun activities, a lantern procession, and much more. Don't miss out on this opportunity to learn and join us for this important holiday in Chinese culture celebrating friends and family!

Chinatown Museum Foundation is hosting the Chinese American Museum of Chicago 18th Benefit Dinner at New Furama Restaurant, 2828 South Wentworth Avenue, Chicago, on Saturday, May 4, 2019 starting 6 pm. The theme this year is “Echoes from the Past, Voices for the Future: Remembering Chinese Railroad Workers during the 150th Anniversary of the Golden Spike.”

Join us for performances, lively conversation, authentic Chinese food, cash bar, and raffle. Proceeds go towards quality programming such as culturally and historically relevant exhibitions, film screenings, lecture series, and live performances.

Doors open at 5:30 pm and the program will start promptly at 6 pm. We have a wonderful performance by musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, so come early and make sure you don’t miss it!

The Museum relies solely on sponsorships, donations, fundraisers, and memberships to fund exhibitions and offer programs that tell the stories of Chinese American history and experiences. If you are unable to join us, a donation would be much appreciated.

Chinatown Museum Foundation is a non-profit organization with IRS 501(c)(3) tax exempt status. Contributions are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.

Chinatown Museum Foundation is hosting the Chinese American Museum of Chicago 17th Benefit Dinner at New Furama Restaurant, 2828 South Wentworth Avenue, Chicago, on Saturday, May 19, 2018 starting 6 pm. The theme this year is “Showcasing Chinese Heritage.”

Join us for performances, lively conversation, authentic Chinese food, cash bar, raffle, and post-dinner dancing after dinner. Proceeds go towards quality programming such as culturally and historically relevant exhibitions, film screenings, lecture series, and live performances.

The Museum relies solely on sponsorships, donations, fundraisers, and memberships to fund exhibitions and offer programs that tell the stories of Chinese American history and experiences. If you are unable to join us, a donation would be much appreciated.

Chinatown Museum Foundation is a non-profit organization with IRS 501(c)(3) tax exempt status. Contributions are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.