Lunar New Year>
From Chinatown, With Love

From Chinatown, With Love: Lunar New Year 2023

In 2023, for the third rendition of From Chinatown, With Love, W.O.W. Project worked with five businesses: TLB Trading Co, EWA Trading Co, Spongies Cafe, Kopitiam, and Wen Wah. Over the course of four months, W.O.W.'s Creatives Rebuild New York artist cohort developed relationships with these business owners, learning about their shop histories, families, the challenges of running a store in a gentrifying neighborhood, and dreams for the new year. In lieu of a calendar, we decided to create 100 special New Year's charms as an homage to the bright red tassels and decorations that can be seen all over Chinatown during this festive time of year. Inspired by the stories and offerings of our participating businesses, each charm is one-of-a-kind and featured a hand-sewn pouch, sculpted ceramic beads, handmade knots, and an illustrated zine tucked inside. Singha Hon created the calendar illlustration of the animals of the zodiac sharing a Lunar New Year meal.

2023 Year of the Water Rabbit Calendar & Charms Spotlight

Group of people celebrating in a restaurant, holding a colorful 2023 calendar, smiling, some wearing masks, with festive decorations including string lights and red hanging ornaments.

A man and woman smiling in a store, holding a decorative blue charm and a colorful silk scarf.

Person holding a colorful illustration of the animals from the Chinese Zodiac celebrating around a dinner table, with text that reads "From Chinatown with Love".

2023 participating businesses

TLB Trading Co [153 E Broadway]

People celebrating a Chinese New Year festival outside a store, with two individuals in traditional lion dance costumes, one pink and the other yellow, and two women wearing masks and winter clothing.

Two women wearing face masks in a store, one with glasses and a black puffy jacket, the other with glasses, black hair, and a green vest. They are in front of shelves with household supplies and signs in Chinese and English.

EWA Trading Co [80 Mulberry St]

Two people in a store holding traditional Chinese New Year ornaments and paper money, smiling for the camera.

Person peeling back a flyer or ticket with colorful illustrations, including a tiger, rabbit, and a ribbon, with text in Chinese and English, and a QR code.

Spongies Cafe [121 Baxter St]

A group of people celebrating indoors, some wearing masks, with festive decorations, a calendar, and a bright smile among them.

Smiling man in black jacket and black beanie standing outside a restaurant with Chinese signage, surrounded by people and bright yellow lion dance costumes.

Kopitiam [151 E Broadway]

Two people in a restaurant or cafe looking at menus, with brick walls, shelves with books and decor in the background, and other customers seated at tables.

Group of six people wearing masks, standing in front of a refrigerator with drinks, smiling, inside a small shop or cafe.

Wen Wah [120 Mott St]

Two women in a clothing store, one wearing a pink jacket and a white baseball cap with colorful text, the other an out-of-focus woman holding a brochure.

A street market stall selling colorful sweaters, shirts, and accessories with a person wearing a face mask standing behind the stall, and a blurry yellow lion costume in the foreground.

FCWL 2023 ARTIsts (CRNY)

Juliet Phillips

Singha Hon

Denise Zhou

Lorraine Lum

Joy Mao

FCWL WORKSHops & procession

The W.O.W. Project and its artists held a celebratory workshop commemorating the completion of the project through collective charm-building and headdress-making. Adults and children alike were invited to contribute new year wishes and transform recycled materials into a large-scale community charm, and to create their own wearable rabbit-themed headdresses.