'Japanese (maybe) tea ceremony' is an event with 私 whatishe collective. This event is part of Keiken's programme as 'Cultural Secretary' of 'Palace of Culture' at Newlyn Art Gallery, connecting 15-25 year olds to the arts.
Am I thirsty because my head is empty ?
私 whatishe collective is a performance group (Charlie, Alberta and Haruka) interested in rituals, death, miscommunications, communication through practices, shamanism and so on. They are planning to do a Japanese tea ceremony as a performance. During the Japanese tea ceremony, you will focus on the present moment, for example, the surface of the cup, the texture of the tea itself and the posture of your body. During the session, you will not be allowed to talk, you would do a dialogue with yourself through how you feel about the ceremony. Take people in the FAR WEST to the FAR EAST. Through the journey, you will see yourself in your mirror. Charlie and Alberta are from England, and Haruka is from Japan, those two countries could be called as far-east and far-west. Many cultural behaviours are upside down like Yin and Yang. We may represent Macro and Micro, Sun and Moon, nothing and everything and a mirror.
There is a host (Haruka me), a main guest (Alberta) who explains how to enjoy the tea ceremony and other guests who are supposed not to talk during the ceremony
1 Enter to the big squared paper through the circle gate. When come inside , use a mobile phone(turned off) to make a boundary to the spiritual world. And kneel down not walk with two feet.
2 Put mobile phones around the flowers as if making a flower. Bow to flowers for respecting the hospitality of the host
3 Draw a big circle around the guests by themselves. The host makes the sounds of singing ball to make the atmosphere calm.
4 Eat sweet. The sweet was called "Sweet potato". Japanese people adopt the idea of European sweet to make a new type of Japanese sweet
5 During the time, the host started to prepare the tea
6 Warm up the cup with hot water and wipe, using whisk to mix Macha powder and hot water gently, elegantly but speedy.
7 After the sweet, the tea is ready
8 The host bows to the guests and serve the tea to the main guest
9 The main guest bows to the guest next to him or her. And start drinking
10 There is a way of drinking the tea. Raise the cup above head for appreciation for gods of food. Avoid to drink from the beautiful pattern on the cup so drink after turn the cup twice. Drink the tea small amount in three times. When pass the cup to the guest next to, bow to the person.
11 After drinking, its ideally the cup is empty. The guests enjoy to see the cup.
12 The main guest and the host talk about the taste of tea on the day and the cup or weather.
13 After the conversation, guests go back to the reality through the circle gate.
