Opening Reception — August 7

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New York Asian Design Week — 2026

Traces
of Force

Force Forms Matter

At Gallery 456, New York Asian Design Week explores how material, technological, environmental, and cultural forces shape contemporary Asian design.

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Curator

Lihan Jin

Artists

Sanghoon Bae  ·  Kurt Cheang  ·  Yue Fan  ·  Runxin Fu  ·  Lihan Jin  ·  Niki Li  ·  Jonathan Liang  ·  Zida Liu  ·  Yuhan (Celine) Song  ·  Dirk Tsai  ·  Kang Wang

NYADW 2026 — Traces of Force

New York Asian Design Week presents Traces of Force, a group exhibition at Gallery 456 bringing together ten works by eleven designers across architecture and its intersections with furniture, photography, and painting. The exhibition examines how structural, technological, emotional, environmental, and social forces shape material form and spatial experience.

Organized through pairings and correspondences, the works place digital fabrication in dialogue with traditional craftsmanship, material tension with bodily resistance, and urban perception with emerging technology. Across the exhibition, Asian design emerges not as a fixed visual language, but through negotiations between precision and imperfection, inheritance and transformation, displacement and belonging.

Read the Full Exhibition Statement

Opening Reception

Friday, August 7
6:00–9:00 PM

Join New York Asian Design Week for the opening of Traces of Force, featuring ten works by eleven artists and designers across architecture, painting, photography, installation, and furniture design.

Meet participating artists and designers, explore the exhibition, and experience the inaugural Physical edition of NYADW's two-year dialogue between physical and digital design.

Venue

Gallery 456 / Chinese American Arts Council

456 Broadway, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10013

Free and open to all. RSVP requested.

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Selected Works

Traces of Force

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New York Asian Design Week is an annual platform where Asian design, art, and culture meet — connecting communities, creators, and audiences across New York through exhibitions, talks, open calls, and shared creative experiences.

About NYADW

New York Asian Design Week (NYADW) is an annual cultural platform celebrating the diverse voices shaping contemporary Asian design in New York City and beyond. Founded by Lighthouse Global Foundation Inc., NYADW brings together architects, artists, designers, makers, and creative thinkers whose work reflects the evolving relationship between culture, identity, technology, and the built environment.

The event operates on a two-year curatorial cycle exploring two complementary themes: Physical and Digital. Each year focuses on one of these dimensions, creating an ongoing dialogue between tangible and virtual forms of design.

About Lighthouse Global Foundation

Lighthouse Global Foundation Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that supports people in need and brings communities together through arts, design, and cultural exchange — open to all, at no cost wherever we can.

Public Programme

Events

1/4

Reception

Opening Reception

August 7 · 6:00–9:00 PM · Gallery 456

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Exhibition

Traces of Force

August 7–21 · Gallery 456

Explore Exhibition

Workshop

Public Talks & Workshops

August 15 · Details to be announced

Community

Closing Event

August 21 · Details to be announced

Host Organization

Hosted by Lighthouse Global Foundation

Lighthouse Global Foundation Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that supports people in need and brings communities together through arts, design, and cultural exchange — open to all, at no cost wherever we can.

Visit Foundation Website

Partners & Supporters

Lighthouse Global Foundation Inc. LMCC Chinese American Arts Council / Gallery 456

This project is made possible in part with funds from Creative Engagement, a regrant program supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and administered by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

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