The 2nd Taiwan International Chawan Festival
- About 2023 -
The second Taiwan International Chawan Festival is finally coming in September, 2023 amidst widespread anticipation! In 2019, we held the first Taiwan International Chawan Festival to warm, emotional reception, and promised to meet again in three years' time. Little did we know the world would be thrusted into crises of the global scale, one after another, in the form of the pandemic and the war. Our reunion was thus put on hold. In September, 2022, even as the pandemic has yet to subside, we threw caution to the wind and began organizing the event. To our pleasant surprise, more than one hundred ceramists from 19 countries applied; this gave us strength and boosted our confidence.
The theme of the 2nd Taiwan International Chawan Festival, which will begin on September 8, 2023, is the "Circulation of Goodness". We hope that the essence of what is conveyed and that meeting to everyone again brings a circulating energy of goodness. We also hope that every one of us can be that driving force in the circulation of goodness.
In the years of practicing good intentions, I realized the strength that emerges from a good intention is like a soft breeze; this flow of good intention provides an unceasing current of strength. In 2014 we proposed the concept of the Taiwanese Chawan Tea Ceremony, which circulated the power of good toward Taiwan repeatedly through the international community, injecting newfound vitality into Taiwanese culture. In 2019 we wanted to drink good tea with good chawans made with the dedication of ceramists, to infuse Taiwanese arts and crafts into the tea ceremony and create a new heartwarming Taiwanese culture. The result was the first Taiwan International Chawan Festival. At the time, well beyond our expectations, more than 70 ceramists from 17 countries participated in the festival, with more than fifty arts and cultural shows and events conducted. Thanks to passionate volunteers and countless visitors, the Festival spread word to a vast number of people about how Taiwan is home to excellent ceramic creations and an excellent humanities scene. Taiwan showed the world that it can bring freshness to the world of tea cultures.
Preface The Circulation of Goodness
Ｗe had global issues on our minds. We built from the idea of being friendly to the earth and thought about planting tea trees, harvesting it with love, and producing top quality tea with the devotion of a skilled master. A ceramist can also begin the story of the chawan from harvesting and pugging clay. To fire a kiln in the most environmentally friendly way possible, which not only spreads goodness to the community, but leaves the legacy of the creator's spirit through a piece of chawan. The tea professional brews a bowl of tea with a calm heart, and serves themselves the bowl with gratitude and good intentions as a means of treating themselves well. Or they can serve a bowl of tea to their friends, family, or even strangers. Serving a bowl of fragrant tea with a smile is certain to drive the circulation of goodness. The steam spiral upward from the chawan like wisps of clouds in the mountains. The sweet fragrance of the bowl of tea embodies all that is good in the world, and that goodness circulates thusly.
Steeped in three years of the pandemic, much of what connected people have been severed by masks and dividers. The seeds of fear were on the brink of sprouting. To be able to sit down with a calm mind and warm the bowl, place the tea, pour the water, and serve the tea. In that moment, the bowl of tea is the entire world. To be able to bond with people over tea again through a simple two-person tea ceremony, oh what a thing of beauty! Because of a bowl of tea, one could find resonance between the mind and soul, and in turn, feel heaven and earth. Because one began with good intentions, "calm, slow, view, taste" could circulate the energy of goodness.
I want to thank ceramists from Taiwan and abroad for preparing such amazing works of art for the exhibition while bringing beautiful, original, ceramics information from all over the world for this 2nd Taiwan International Chawan Festival. The chawan may seem simple, but it's an object that serves both as an independent piece of art and a vessel with very practical uses in life; it's also most suitable for showcasing the unique style of the ceramic artist. Because of the participation and use by the viewer, the life and artistic value of the chawan is made complete.
We will also prepare quality Taiwanese tea, and with the goodness from deep within us, bring that soft, unending breeze of circulating goodness through the Taiwanese Chawan Tea Ceremony along with music, crafts, art, and dance at the 2nd Taiwan International Chawan Festival. We also hope that the participating ceramists from all over the world can take it home. To circulate goodness throughout the world by using a good chawan to drink good tea and serve tea to the people.
Teng Shu-Hui, Director, Taiwan Ceramic Culture Association
2023.06.07
The 2nd Taiwan International Chawan Festival Video