In Harmony: The Way of Tea co-curators Amy Chow and Lee Chi-wing at the show’s inauguration in Design Spectrum. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Tea has been synonymous with Chinese culture since ancient times. Yet it has never been the chic beverage that inspires Instagram snaps the way its hipster sister coffee does. Wishing to shed light on contemporary tea culture, curators Amy Chow and Lee Chi-wing have put together a show called In Harmony: The Way of Tea (TWT) at Wan Chai’s Design Spectrum.
TWT is the fourth Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) — hosted show highlighting one of the many ways in which design relates to culture. All the shows have been curated by Chow, who partnered with a co-curator who is a specialist in the area under focus in each. Hong Kong-based industrial designer Lee, whose Mobile Standing Tea Bar gained him international recognition, was a natural choice for TWT.
“I worked with Amy on other HKDC shows,” Lee recalls. “Being a communications and graphic designer, she understands what we need for a show at Design Spectrum. I am a lifelong tea drinker, and very familiar with tea houses as well as tea culture. I chose most of the exhibits based on my relationship with artists who specialize in this craft.”
Herbal Pavilion, housing a variety of green herbs, greets Design Spectrum visitors on arrival. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Community bonding
Lee stressed the importance of engaging people living in Wan Chai where Design Spectrum is located. “We saw TWT as an opportunity to bring tea to a wider audience rather than focus on designers and fans of design,” he states. “Tea is about bonding with like-minded people. Most of the visitors live in the area and this show caters to them. It was intended to be easy to understand. We observed that many visitors like to gather around the Herbal Pavilion to chat.”
Herbal Pavilion, which stands in Design Spectrum’s open courtyard, was commissioned for TWT and conceived by Lee’s studio Milk Design. It encompasses installations housing a variety of green herbs and shrubs tended by local urban grower Joyce Ng. “The pavilion was a way for visitors to smell, taste and touch the exhibition immediately upon arrival,” Lee explains. “We designed the show to emphasize the other senses instead of just sight.”
Each of TWT’s four rooms offers a distinctive sensory experience. “Tea originated in China and spread to Japan during the Tang Dynasty,” Lee says. “We sourced many tea wares from Japan and Taiwan, and they show how tea became part of those respective cultures through packaging and graphic design.”
A display of traditional Chinese teaware at the Hong Kong Design Centre-hosted show exploring the role of tea in local culture. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Brewing via app
Sculptor Annie Wan’s range of ceramic tea ware with unusual designs takes up one room. The Mobile Standing Tea Bar is on hand to offer visitors a sip of refreshment in another. In the corridor, designer Sandy Choi’s Mobile Globe, crafted to look like a mould-infested orange, is meant to serve as a metaphor of the earth’s growth cycle from germination to decay.
“We originally planned for the bar to be the center of a number of activities, but due to coronavirus-related restrictions, they had to be cancelled,” says Lee, regretfully.
Besides his artist friends, Lee approached a number of Design for Asia Award winners to contribute to the show. One such is Lify’s Connie Lee, who demonstrates brewing tea via a capsule. “It is a different way to appreciate tea drinking,” Lee says. “It promotes health and well-being. It also fits in with our contemporary approach to tea culture, and our quest to bring this traditional practice to a new audience.”
If you go
In Harmony: The Way of Tea
Curated by Amy Chow and Lee Chi-wing
Dates: Until July 19
Venue: Design Spectrum, 7 Mallory Street, Wan Chai, Hong Kong Island
