Beacon for the Millennium
A new durational performance work by He Yunchang.

Arts Letters and Numbers is honored to present Beacon for the Millennium, a new durational performance work by He Yunchang unfolding in New York City in July 2026. Over five consecutive days, the work brings forward the full force of the artist's body-based practice, opening a sustained space of encounter shaped by Chinese ornamentation, gestural vocabulary, and aesthetic design.

The piece invites audiences into a continuous exchange, both on site and online, as He Yunchang moves through eight-hour daytime sessions wearing a custom designed costume and engaging directly with participants. Network technology and Al will serve as active components throughout, extending the reach of the work and creating a live, global field of interaction.

This marks He Yunchang's return to New York City's public sphere after nearly two decades; his last presentation in the city, Gang Shang Hua (2007), took place in Washington Square Park as part of the New York Performance Art Biennial. As He describes it, the new work is an open, participatory project addressing questions of the present and the future, an invitation for viewers around the world to take part.

Please join us for an opening event on Thursday, July 23 at The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center. Doors open at 4 pm, performance starting at 4:30 pm, with introductory remarks by David Gersten.

Dates and Venues
July 23-25, 2026 The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center, 107 Suffolk Street, New York, NY 10002
July 26, 2026, Outdoor, New York City
July 28, 2026, Arts Letters and Numbers, 1548 Burden Lake Road, Averill Park, NY 12018

Credits
New work by He Yunchang
Presented by Arts Letters and Numbers
Curated by David Gersten
Co curated by Zhang Xiaorui
Production and Sponsorship: Arts Letters and Numbers, Chen Lu Documentary Photography Director: Billy Chen
Project Coordinator: Lu Gao Props and
Service Design: He Yunchang, P.J, ATELIER ROUGE PEKIN