Ceramic artists from far and wide have come to Miaoli City to take part in the Third Taiwan International Chawan Festival, which highlights the production, use and aesthetics of handmade earthenware for use in Taiwanese tea ceremonies.
The theme of this year’s festival is “The Universe in the Chawan” — chawan (茶碗) means “tea bowl” — with events scheduled through tomorrow at the Miaoli Craft Park (苗栗工藝園區).
Tea bowls from Taiwan and elsewhere are displayed, while visitors can meet foreign ceramic artists hosted by the festival, including Martina Dielen of the Netherlands, Maryse Thibaud Boulesteix and Ariane Coissieux of France, and Alvin Ng of Singapore, organizers said.
Photo: Hakka Affairs Council
“It is especially touching for Taiwanese participants and festival organizers to have Volodymyr Kozhukalo, the ceramic artist from Ukraine, attending in person this year, as his country still suffers from war conflict and devastation by foreign invasion,” said Oscar Chen, artist liaison for the festival.
Chen said foreign artists attending the festival had the chance to tour mountain tea farms, use ceramic kilns and have exchanges with Taiwanese artists.
The visiting artists enjoyed the opportunity to try the many specialty teas in Taiwan, he said.
The first Chawan Festival took place in 2019, anchored around the chawan tea ceremony and a theme of “One is All,” followed by its second iteration in 2023, themed “The Circulation of Goodness,” festival curator Teng Shu-hui (鄧淑慧) said.
“When you cradle a bowl of tea in your hands and take a sip, the tea initiates a resonance between the senses of smell and taste that permeates through every inch of skin,” she said.
More than 400 tea bowls, made by 75 artists from 20 countries, are on display this year, Teng said.
“We want the audience to pause and appreciate each production,” Teng said.
Festival visitors have many activities they can participate in, according to the festival’s official Web site: Visitors can observe a tea ceremony hosted by masters of the art, learn about the history of tea growing in Taiwan, and watch traditional Hakka and Hoklo music performances.
Visitors can go to workshops for making chawan and tea pots, tea brewing demonstations or bamboo weaving classes, the Web site said.
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