What does it mean to craft a gift for the afterlife—one that is meant to disappear?

In many Asian cultures, paper offerings—folded into gleaming ingots or crafted into intricate replicas of houses, cars, and even smartphones—are far from ephemeral. Burned during observances such as the Qingming Festival, they are acts of love and remembrance: tangible prayers that bridge the boundary between the living and the dead. Through fire, these delicate creations are believed to transform into usable goods for ancestors, ensuring they lack for nothing and remain connected to the families who honor them.

This Qingming Festival, the Heritage Museum of Asian Art and Tiandi Universal Market invite you to explore this profound tradition across Asia and its diasporas, alongside its contemporary reinterpretations.