We went to The Wang Contemporary’s (@thewangcontemporary) Chinese New Year opening in Chinatown.

20,000 red and gold paper planes drifted down from the building’s central oculus, each printed with a single English noun drawn from a 5,000-word archive. You pick one up. You unfold it. You see what word found you.

The three-day performative installation, 20,000 Variations On A Paper Plane In Flight by MSCHF (@mschf), marked the debut of The Wang Contemporary — a new cultural platform founded by Ying and Alexander Wang, rooted in Chinatown with a global vision.

Housed at 58 Bowery, a landmarked 1924 building newly reimagined as a space for creative capital, the institution positions itself as a vessel for Asian and Asian-American creativity, a stage for performance-like the one by young Chinese opera singer @kakathire during the event- public art, and a community hub for both local neighbors and international audiences.

“This project is personal — it’s rooted in my family, in Chinatown, in watching my mother think in decades rather than seasons. But it’s also new territory. It’s not about product; it’s about permanence,” Alexander Wang tells RADII when we asked him of the intentions behind this new initiative.

Check out the spectacle of The Wang Contemporary above, and let us know what your creative endeavor is for the new year.

#TheWangContemporary #MSCHF #aapi #AsianAmericanArt #RADIImedia ...

Tattooer and painter JAX (@jax_tattooer) sees his city the way he approaches his art, raw, unfiltered, and shaped by punk rock and vintage movies. His Shanghai isn’t found in the places where authenticity lives.

It’s dive bars that feel frozen in time, perfect noodle bowls from no-frills joints, and the ritual of training with a good teacher. It’s cold beer with good people, and endless exploration on two wheels. This is the city as he lives it, drawn from punk, played on film, and always in motion.

Follow @RADII_media for more ultimate city guides across Asia.

#RADIImedia #Radii #Shanghai #CityGuide #PunkRock ...

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These days, most hongbao arrive with a notification sound. A WeChat ping. An Alipay transfer. Digital confetti on your screen.

But before the QR codes and group chats, there was the physical red envelope, 红包 (hóngbāo), 利是 (lai see), ang pau (âng-pau), crisp paper, gold foil stamping, embossed characters, textured stock you could actually feel.

Originally rooted in Chinese New Year and special occasions like weddings and graduations, the red envelope tradition began in China and spread across Southeast Asia and diaspora communities worldwide. The money inside mattered. But so did the design.

Are you team digital transfer or team paper hongbao?

#radiimedia #angpao #hongbao #laisee #design ...

Everyone is hungry during the New Year so ESENES (@esenes.ww) knew exactly what to drop.

The brand behind those viral Cufant clogs and “Loose Screw” hats is back at it, this time with a limited-edition accessory that looks good enough to eat. Made from genuine translucent leather with a “dumpling filling” canvas lining inside, it’s playful, irreverent, and undeniably ESENES.

With only 150 pieces to exist, dropping 2/20 for $150, this might be hard to get your hands on.

>> Click the link in bio to read the full story.

#Radiimedia #Radii #ESENES #DumplingBag #CNY ...