Explore All Sides of Xinan Ran’s Collaborative Textile Sculptures Outside Harvard Museums of Science and Culture

Where We Belong: Tree Chuangs, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, through October 31

“Artist Xinan Ran created three site-specific textile sculptures in collaboration with local communities and the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture. Sixty-six people ages 14–80 contributed through hands-on workshops offered by the HMSC Museum Education Department. ” (quote from HMSC Where We Belong: Tree Chuangs)

Lucky to live near these three colorful sculptures swaying beneath their trees, I hope to revisit many times and stand inside for their stunning views. Now that I’ve sensed their sustaining presence, I want to quickly spread the word to anyone who has the chance to visit or connect somehow. The quotes and links here should explain enough to draw you in.

“Participants created unique fabric collages, blue sun prints, and vinyl word art projects. Once quilted, these individual textile patches, rich with visual vocabularies and personal narratives, act as snapshots of the participants’ lived experience. Ran fabricated the sculptures in the form of traditional Chinese chuangs—cylindrical textiles covered in written prayers to keep Buddhist teachings active when no one is present to recite them. “ (quote from HMSC Where We Belong: Tree Chuangs)

“Created to be viewed from both the outside and the inside, each chuang serves as a metaphor for the private mind and the public physical world that we simultaneously inhabit. When stepping inside each chuang, visitors are invited to experience their moment of introspection within a public space.” (quote from HMSC Where We Belong: Tree Chuangs)

From instructions for entering: “**Using the zipper, gently step inside; Consider all those who have learned, discovered, and continue to question here; Name the communities you feel you belong to.”**

“Xinan (Helen) Ran was born in Yakeshi, China and lives in Brooklyn, New York. She is a Hunter College MFA candidate and received her BFA from Pratt Institute (2017). Apart from her studio practices, Ran is an art educator and an aspirational set designer for new theaters. “(quote from Beam Center project Tree Chuang 2022)