Gong Fu Cha tea ceremony

In 2017, foundation 'ZaaiGoed' invited Liselore, of LiLo Ceramics to design and make a tea set. Stiching Zaaigoed takes elderly people with Alzheimer's or sensory impairment on a journey of discovery where the different senses are stimulated. They do this through a Sensory Garden that has been created in Haarlem North. This has made it clear that through attention and the right stimuli, the elderly (with dementia) are capable of much more than we think. And leads to very diverse, beautiful, personal encounters and tangible things! Every year an artist is invited to create an art project inspired by and with the elderly.

Drinking tea brings people together and invites storytelling. Liselore found the Gong Fu Cha tea ceremony to be a great starting point for this. This ancient Chinese ritual ensures that the senses are activated one by one. Through the warmth of the cup in your hands, the smell of the tea, the color of the tea, the sound of the pouring and the rustling of the tea leaves. And not least by the taste of the tea.

Liselore designed the tea set so that participants become aware of how dementia increasingly affects the patient's life and those around them. In the beginning, the disease causes mostly minor annoyances. As the disease intensifies, life becomes increasingly complicated and difficult. Liselore made small holes in the porcelain cups with things she found, together with the elderly, in the sensory garden. This symbolizes the development of the disease, but also the holes that become increasingly visible when you look at the sick person's brain on an X-ray. The first cups still have small holes which makes drinking a little more difficult, but not impossible. The last cups show many more holes and fractures that make it impossible to drink from them. This shows the dark side of the disease.

After working with the elders on this project for 3 seasons, Liselore organized a number of tea ceremonies. Instead of tea, she used herbs from the different sensory beds from the garden. During the ceremonies, many beautiful stories were shared about both experiencing your senses and dementia. During the final ceremony, at Gallery SPW 59 in Haarlem, the tea set was auctioned off. The proceeds benefited the Seed Foundation.