Naardermeer Tea Hut

The project Naardermeer Tea Hut has been initiated by Haruka Matsuo, a Japanese artist/ designer, ceramist and tea master living in Hilversum. Her work, consisting of ceramics, drawings, installations and tea ceremonies, concentrates on that which is not tangible yet present, such as reflections in water, the atmosphere between objects, and the connection between people and/or between people and places. While incorporating a location’s history and its associated stories into her work, Haruka brings attention to the here and now, allowing observation of how the narrative of a place affects the present moment. In her tea ceremonies, Haruka uses local materials. For instance, for a tea ceremony at Het Pinetum in Hilversum, she used local sand as a mould for the plate on which the sweets were served. This carried a significant tribute to the town’s history: because of the sand, the ground could not originally be built on, and therefore coniferous trees collected from 30 different countries were planted in 1839. The roots of the trees ensured that the soil became suitable for building on, and that is why there are so many conifers in Hilversum. The city was built around these trees, some of which are more than 100 years old. For another tea ceremony, at the IJsselbiennale in Deventer, Haruka made a teapot from local clay that she dug up from the ‘uiterwaard’, the area between the summer and winter dykes by the IJssel River where water collects when the water level is high, and she made glazing from the ash of local trees. A traditional Japanese tea ceremony responds to the environment. It is about sharing time and space in connection with nature. Haruka compares it to a natural phenomenon she was fascinated by as a child. Surrounding the famous Mount Fuji are eight small wells, varying in shape. The wells glisten from all the coins the Japanese throw in for good luck, and there are koi fish swimming in them. These fish are quite large, while the wells are small in size. Watching the fish appear and disappear, Haruka realised the wells are connected underground. This means the fish can swim invisibly from one well to another. Therein Haruka sees a parallel with the tea ceremony, in which people are invisibly connected by drinking tea, which is also water. The tea ceremony does not force anything; it is a whole different way of connecting. Talking is not necessary (but is allowed) — the ritual constitutes a form of meditation that expands attention and helps bring this attention into daily life through an everyday means: tea. Until now, Haruka has performed all her tea ceremonies outdoors. For her new project, the Naardermeer Tea Hut, she aims to explore how a physical space — through its design, layout, and materials — can enhance participants’ sense of connection during the ceremony, by creating a site-specific teahouse in the Naardermeer area.