Museum of Chinese in America: History

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Table of Contents

The museum is located in Lower Manhattan
History
Exhibition. Stories of Chinese Food and Identity in America
The Future of the Museum
The Future of the Neighborhood
Works Cited

The museum is located in Lower Manhattan

The district primary functions as a center for business, cultural life, and administration
Most of the buildings are offices, shops, restaurants, and recreation facilities such as parks, museums, and open spaces
The number of residents currently constitutes about 60,000
Originally, the area was inhabited by Native Indians until the first Dutch settlers overtook it and built a New Amsterdam later in 1626
The area possesses historical, architectural, and cultural value as it encompasses a variety of corresponding monuments
The area is a center to folk and jazz clubs, modern art galleries, punk bars.
The area is extremely diverse and lively featuring people of various ethnicities, occupations, interests and social layers
The greenery is a strong side of Lower Manhattan
However, the streets are full of cars and traffic jams, which creates noise pollution
The area is densely built up and capitalistic attitudes towards it leave fewer options for making it more livable.
Transportation is organized mainly by metro communications
Cars and land transportation in a rush hour are not an option (see fig. 1)
Street art is a fast-growing and popular art movement
Lower Manhattan is a famous place for festivals and exhibitions of street art (see fig. 2)

*Figure. 1. Canal street rush hour (“Lafayette Street”).*

*Figure. 2. Street art in Lower Manhattan (Bruner).*

*Figure. 3. Lower Manhattan, view from Jersey City (“Lower Manhattan”).*

History

The Chinese Museum is currently located at 215 Centre Street
It was constructed circa 1980 by Jack Tchen and Charlie Lai – a historian and a local activist respectively
The original location is Chinatown – the heart of Chinese American lifestyle, tradition and culture
In 2005 the museum received a grant of $20 million from Michael Bloomberg and moved to its current location in 2009
The new exterior and interior designed by famous modern Chinese architect Maya Lin (see fig. 4 and 5)
The new building was substantially expanded up to six times the original size
The museum was originally designed as a not-for-profit educational and cultural institution
It holds items of culture and history of China viewed through the experiences of Chinese American

*Figure. 4. Museum of Chinese, New York (Seid)*

*Figure. 5. Interior of the museum (Rutgers University).*

Exhibition. Stories of Chinese Food and Identity in America

*Figure. 6. A part of an exhibition (MOCA).*

The exhibition was held in October 2016-March 2017
It featured food and dining traditions as indicators of change in lives of Chinese Americans
Through local cuisine, the authors managed to express a variety of traditions in lower, middle and upper class of Chinese Americans
The idea was to view the experiences of Chinese in America through food and eating habits
The central motive, expressed in the name “Sour, Sweet, Bitter, Spicy” relates to a Chinese saying that implies bright and dark moments of life
The visitors may have witnessed how new Chinese American culture manifests itself through dish serving, tableware, eating zone design, and other attributes of eating culture
The exhibition featured native cuisine represented by 18 China region cooking styles
Special attention was paid to table serving and dressing
The visitor assessed the Mainland Chinese culture of eating with that of Chinese Americans
Thus, the contrast was of essence
Dishes were cooked by Native Chinese and Chinese-American Chefs
The exhibition was highly interactive and visitors were allowed to taste the dishes and learn the ways of Chinese eating traditions both new and old

The Future of the Museum

The museum could expand further and focus on juxtaposing the two Chinese cultures
Literally, the museum could be reconstructed in a way that adjoining rooms would show the present day Asian American and Native Chinese culture
The future of the museum is highly dependent on local Asians preserving their cultural traditions
The continuous transformation of thinking provides fertile soil for artists and generates content for new exhibitions
If Chinese Americans assimilate, the museum will change its purpose from documenting the ongoing story to pinpointing the past milestones and reflection
A broader population should be attracted
New marketing strategies could drive peoples’ attention towards rich culture of Chinese Americans
As an educator, the museum could inspire young Asian Americans to preserve their cultural identities and create new meanings
Therefore, the agenda could expand to cover new ages.

The Future of the Neighborhood

Manhattan currently is a mix of function and presents an attraction
It generates large amount of profits in rent and taxes which leads to further increases in the land pricing
Major changes in altitude of construction may become an issue (“What New York Could Look Like in 2020”)
Historical buildings are at risk as they are harder to convert to profit due to high repair expenses
City planning solutions appear with the emergence of technology – artificial islands (as an extension of Lower Manhattan)
Possible shift of activity towards newly constructed artificial areas
A preservation of the history is a key to saving the active and diverse spirit of the place
Building altitudes must be regulated

Works Cited

Bruner, Raisa. “A Photographer Embarked on a Mission to Document New York City’s Best Street Art before It Disappeared — Here Are Some of His Favorites.”Business Insider. 2016. Web.

“Lafayette Street.”Google Street View, n.d. Web.

“Lower Manhattan.”Wikipedia, 2017. Web.

Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA). “Exhibit: Sour, Sweet, Bitter, Spicy: Stories of Chinese Food and Identity in America.” MOCA, n.d. Web.

Rutgers University. “The Museum of Chinese in America: Continuity and Change.” Cross Ties, Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for Humanities. 2017. Web.

Seid, Christina. “5 Things to Do in Chinatown with $10 or Less.”Christina of Chinatown, n.d. Web.

“What New York Could Look Like in 2020.” National Geographic, n.d. Web.