ŚŪNYATĀ - The Interactive Tea Art Experience

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With the name "Śūnyatā", Dear TeaHouse does not tend follow any profound definitions or philosophies, but through our own stories, we want to create an interactive space where tea lovers can enjoy tea and take time to admire the art installation in order to bring back the calm and freedom in their innermost core.

Following our series of interactive tea art experiences, Dear TeaHouse launches the final version named “Śūnyatā” which will take place at 58/4 Truong Dinh, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City from May 18th to July 31st, 2021.

Śūnyatā is a Buddhist term in Sanskrit that has been translated most often as “Emptiness”, sometimes “Voidness”(*). In Vietnamese, Sunyata means “Tánh không” or “Tính không” which is a philosophy that goes beyond its own definition with multiple layers and meanings that are hard to grasp by knowledge, but through committing oneself to experience.

In terms of awareness, we often cognize the existence of things and phenomena through dualities such as birth-death, existence-nonexistence, creation-destruction, coming-going, inside-outside, subject-object. These dualities sometimes distort our view of reality which causes anxiety and fear. However, “Emptiness” refers to the tenet that there is no birth, there is no death; there is no coming, there is no going; there is no permanent self, there is no annihilation; and when we understand that we cannot be destroyed, we are liberated from fear (**). And whether we like it or not, “Emptiness” inherently exists in things, phenomena, in you, in me, but we seem to be unaware of this inherent existence.

(*): Buswell, R. E. (2004). Encyclopedia of Buddhism

(**): Thiền Sư Thích Nhất Hạnh. (2019). Đập Vỡ Vỏ Hồ Đào

The Śūnyatā experience program is expected to launch within 78 days which will awaken all the senses and stimulate the imagination through:

ŚŪNYATĀ GARDEN

Inspired by the Vietnamese bamboo, an unique art installation which is located in the center of the Śūnyatā experience was designed especially for Dear TeaHouse. The creation is handcrafted from more than 2.700 bamboo leaves which are made of popsicle sticks, more than 350 canes, 45 bamboo stalks which are recycled from the cut-off bamboo trees, and thousands of LED lights. All those create a swarm of fireflies in the forest at night.

Artist Thien Nguyen

Bamboo tree, with its vehement vitality, has graced themselves in the minds and hearts of the Vietnamese people and are widely used in everyday life in physical as well as spiritual form. People who come from the rural areas will probably never forget the image of the bamboo village; or the sound of the bamboo hammock in the summer noon; the rusticity, heartfelt vibe; the cozy family meals filled with loving conversations; and the taste of simple dishes that are made from bamboo shoots. The legend of the Heavenly king of Phu Dong ripping a nearby bamboo tree out of the ground to fight against the enemies has always been the pride of Vietnamese people. And when compared with the most advanced weapons nowadays, the bamboo tree is so primitive but its undauntedness together with the patriotism of our people helped protect the inviolable independence and sovereign of our nation. The passage of time keeps flowing unstoppably despite everything that has happened, but after all those ups and downs, bamboo trees and our forefathers have always been side by side, adapting to changing environments and situations.

We can see in the bamboo tree, beside its strong vitality, there is the gentleness, calmness, and freedom; they just live and dedicate all of their lives impartially. The image of “As bamboos grow old, young shoots spring up” creates in us a sense of inheritance, strong continuity; an impression of something simple, free, and calm just like how it familiarly exists in our life; a feeling of looking back and overcoming fears of gain/loss, existence/non existence in order to live a full and happy life. By borrowing the meaning of the Buddhist philosophy’s Śūnyatā which is expressed through the material of a tree that is so familiar to the Vietnamese people, we, with this concept, want to remind us of the return, especially during this challenging period, return to the calmness, the serenity, the familiarity that have always there in our deep souls.

DINH TAN CUONG TEA

A premium tea line that comes from Thai Nguyen, Viet Nam. This kind of tea meets all the requirements of traditional tea with thin and small tea petals, light green tea color, and rich flavour just like young green sticky rice on their harvest season.

MUNG BEAN CAKE WITH FRUIT FILLING

Originated from Hue royal cuisine, mung bean cakes are handcrafted by skillful bakers who make the cakes become lively, appetizing and look just like real fruits. These mung bean cakes with fruit filling have a glossy outer layer, bright color, mung bean aroma, chewy layer of gelatin and sweet but savoury taste.

COLD BREW

Dear TeaHouse's new cold brew tea collection is breathed anew through the photo series "Tea Teleportation" using the city moment through the lens of photographer Marc Tran (MAKI Studio) combined with light and techniques of projector to recreate the idea from cherishing to bring cold brew tea to all the alleys of Saigon.