Celebrating Losar at the Rubin | Rubin Museum of Art

Losar is the Tibetan New Year, celebrated across the Himalayan region in a three-day festival featuring delicious food, traditional dances, and spiritual focus on a benevolent and prosperous year to come. As the Year of the Earth Dog begins, the Rubin Museum is planning our Losar Family Day on Sunday, February 18—and you’re encouraged to join the celebrations.

Here are five ways you can ring in Losar at the Rubin:

1. Share your dreams on a wishing tree

Create your own “Wishing Tree” and visualize what you hope to achieve in your future. Wrap the tree branches in symbolic colored yarn, write or draw your wishes on paper, and tie them to the tree. Share with us your dreams, goals, and optimism for the coming year.

2. Read to a therapy dog

This Losar, going to the dogs is something to be excited about. At the Rubin we have furry friends joining the celebrations—meet and greet therapy dogs who will tag along to support and encourage young readers as they learn to read out loud.

3. Make art with materials from the earth

In the Year of the Earth Dog we return to the earth. Participate in a workshop where we paint with mud, elevating the natural pigment into an element of exploration and expression. Can’t join us on February 18? Stop in any Sunday in February to make muddy art with us.

4. Try Tibetan delicacies—and learn to make your own Indulge in the delicacies of Losar. Attend a tasting of butter tea and learn how to twirl the traditional Tibetan sweet biscuit, khapsey.

5. Take in traditional tunes

Throughout Losar Family Day, the Rubin will feature celebratory Tibetan music, immersing visitors in the sensory experience of Himalayan art.

There are plenty of ways to celebrate the Losar tradition at the Rubin this February, and we would love to hear how you enjoyed them! Please join us on Losar Family Day or for February Family Sundays and share your experiences with us on social media, tagging @RubinMuseum.

Losar Family Day is supported in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.