Aldrich Museum Launches 2025 Box Series With Interactive Works

RIDGEFIELD, CT — The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum will debut the 2025 edition of its Aldrich Box series with interactive works by two artists, Mongolia-based Jantsankhorol Erdenebayar and New York-based Koyolzintli, the museum announced.

Inaugurated in 2021, the Aldrich Box is a free, year-long traveling exhibition designed to bring tactile, participatory art beyond the museum’s walls. For the first time, this year’s editions will be housed on the museum’s campus, where visitors can check out a key and instruction guide at the front desk to interact with the work in the open air.

Erdenebayar’s contribution, "Channeling our human energy for the journey ahead," 2025, will be on view from July 9, 2025, through September 30, 2026. The copper-clad object—described by the artist as a “travel kit”—draws from Mongolian mythology and nomadic traditions. It features a mirrored interior lined with faux fur and goat horns, symbolizing protection and self-reflection, while its portable design and engraved human ears evoke a connection to the land and ancestral wisdom.

Koyolzintli’s "Whistling Jar," 2025, will debut in September. Activated by water, the sound object explores indigenous knowledge, ritual, and the relationship between land and celestial movements. Her work will include meditative instructions and is informed by research into pre-American sound instruments and ancestral storytelling. The installation reflects her ties to both New York and Ecuador, where she was raised.

Organized by Aldrich Director of Education Namulen Bayarsaihan and Chief Curator Amy Smith-Stewart, the Aldrich Box aims to create intimate encounters with contemporary art in unexpected settings.

Erdenebayar represented Mongolia at the 58th Venice Biennale and has exhibited at Art Basel and Frieze. Koyolzintli’s work has been featured at major venues including the Whitney Museum and the United Nations, and she is a recipient of the Anonymous Was a Woman award.