Join in on a conversation comparing tea culture and practices as found in China, Japan and Korea. Professor Katharine Burnett, founding director of the Global Tea Initiative, will moderate a conversation between Midori McKeon, an Omote Senke tea practitioner and a professor at San Francisco State University, Sherab Chen, E-Resources Discovery Librarian, faculty of Ohio State University’s East Asian Studies Center and advisor to OSU student organization Tea Friends, and Yoon Hee Kim, founder of TeaClassics and certified tea master with the Tea Culture Association of Korea. The conversation will explore traditional practices as well as the influence of tea culture on daily life and modern arts.

The program is sponsored by the Detroit Institute of Art and will include ArtLab J’s East Meets West: Korean Tea Ceremony a contemporary dance work inspired by darye (茶禮), a traditional form of tea ceremony in Korea that has been practiced among Korean people for over a thousand years. In the ceremony, the dancers learn about Korean culture and feel the naturalness of enjoying tea within an easy formal setting.  This performance is in collaboration with Mike Han, Korean-Detroit artist, designer, and modern vandal.  His artwork is influenced by Korean calligraphy, graffiti, and modern design.  

Watch this performance on the DIA’s YouTube Channel  or Facebook page