C Mag

Alongside local tea facilitators, we co-present a series of intimate workshops around the rituals of drinking tea and the conscious bonds we form to the terrain of crafts——including vessels, tools, and environment—involved in singular tea encounters. In C156 Craft, Jasmine Gui writes on the Nuit Blanche tea installation Ichigo-Ichie (2022), named after the Japanese philosophy that translates roughly to “one season, one encounter.” Through exercises in presence, Gui and Ichigo-Ichie collaborators Helen Kong and Carina Fung offer space to feel the evolving relationships between people and objects in time.

All workshops will take place at ICHA TEA, 235 Spadina Avenue, Unit 4, Toronto.

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The Stories Our Things Tell of Us
With Jasmine Gui (Teh Studio)
March 28, 6:30–9:00PM
8 seats available

Tea practice is an exercise of self-conscious relation to the tools, vessels, water, and tea leaves that are necessary to make a cup of tea. This might range from a minimal setup to a complex, multi-step process. Either way, the objects we work with, we work with intimately. Inspired by this intimacy, we will playfully explore our relation to the objects we use through experimental flash fiction. Participants will be guided through tea drinking and verbal prompts to build a short fictional piece written from an object’s point of view of ourselves. No prior writing experience necessary.

Jasmine Gui is a Singaporean-born interdisciplinary artist, arts programmer, and PhD student based in Tkaronto/Toronto. She works in paper, ceramics, tea, and experimental book formats through the inter-arts and publishing space Teh Studio.

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In One Tea Bowl
With Helen Kong (Secret Teatime) and Carina Fung
April 13, 11:00AM–12:30PM
8 seats available

*This workshop will run again from 1:00–2:30PM with an etrance fee. (Ticketed through ICHA TEA)

Finding a mindful moment doesn't have to be complex or time-consuming. All you need is a bowl, some tea, and hot water. In this workshop, we will discover our unique relation to the rituals of drinking tea and the understanding of the spiritual connections we have with our drinking vessels, and how they can help us discover clarity, reflection, and calmness in our minds. In engaging with a bowl of tea, we can find a moment of peace.

Helen Kong is the owner of Secret Teatime, a clay makerspace hidden in Scarborough. She specializes in making teawares for Japanese and Chinese tea. She is also an ongoing student/practitioner of Chado (the Japanese way of tea). The way of tea is her guide in life and in her creative practice. Tea has been the source of inspiration and sense of grounding during times of life/creative burnout. Currently, Helen is stepping into a new role in organizing collaborative group projects and creating multi-sensory tea experiences in the hopes of mutually promoting and supporting local makers and small businesses.

Carina Fung has over 10 years of experience working as a Community Mental Health worker and an even longer time as a tea enthusiast. As a lifelong tea practitioner, it has also not been lost on her that the practice of tea is a tool for mental wellness. Tea has a way of connecting individuals to a greater community and is an instrument in seeking knowledge within the self. As such, Carina continues to pursue a path in which she can merge her professional experience with her passion for tea.