Individual Media Tours for the Exhibition “Reasons to Gather: Japanese Tea Practice Unwrapped”

A black jar sits on a red tray. Two more jars wear fabric covers. A floral fabric and wood boxes spread across the background.

Tea caddy, named Sakai Kokatatsuki, with red lacquer tray and scroll, China, Yuan dynasty, 1279–1368, brown stoneware with black iron glaze and ivory lid; lacquer; paper and silk, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Gregory Kinsey, Kinsey Chanoyu Collection, in honor of Louise Cort and in appreciation of her years of scholarship in support of Chanoyu education in the U.S., F2021.3.5.1a-gg-3a-e

March 04, 2025 | National Museum of Asian Art

WHAT:	Individually scheduled press tours for “Reasons to Gather: Japanese Tea Practice Unwrapped”
WHEN:	Opening tours April 12–18; on view April 12, 2025–April 26, 2026
WHERE:	Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art 1050 Independence Ave. S.W.
WHO:	Sol Jung, Shirley Z. Johnson Assistant Curator of Japanese Art

Members of the media are invited to view the exhibition “Reasons to Gather: Japanese Tea Practice Unwrapped” at the National Museum of Asian Art. Japanese tea practice, chanoyu, centers on the appreciation of tea utensils used to prepare and consume powdered green tea, called matcha. Chanoyu elevates these utensils, which include ceramic tea caddies, tea bowls and hanging scrolls of calligraphy, into objects of aesthetic admiration. The objects in this exhibition accumulated significance over generations through their continued use and display at tea gatherings. Tea practitioners have also cherished the accompanying boxes, documents and textiles that demonstrate an object’s accrued layers of historical and cultural meaning.

“Reasons to Gather” presents 11 historic tea utensils and accessories, including ceramics, hanging scrolls, boxes and wrapping cloths. Finding their way from China, Korea and South Asia into Japanese tea rooms, these objects tell a story of trade and exchange across Asia. This exhibition unveils how chanoyu brought together these different cultural elements through networks of tea practitioners.

The tea utensils featured in this exhibition come from the Kinsey Chanoyu Collection. Gregory Kinsey gifted the museum nearly 200 objects, a collection that grew from his lifelong devotion to the practice of chanoyu. In an effort to share and uplift the art of tea practice, Kinsey dedicated most of the works to the Freer Study Collection for use in public programs that demonstrate the traditional preparation of matcha. Because of their historical and artistic significance, another 16 pieces with accompanying provenance documentation entered the Freer Gallery of Art Collection for exhibition and research.

Tea bowls, tea caddies and hanging scrolls of calligraphy usually take center stage at tea gatherings and museum exhibitions alike, but the accompanying boxes, pouches and wrappers are rich with meaningful historical details about the development of chanoyu. The assemblage of objects in this exhibition tells a story about cultural connections across Asia that demonstrate the erudition and cosmopolitanism of tea practitioners who collected, admired and cared for these tea utensils.

Sol Jung, Shirley Z. Johnson Assistant Curator of Japanese Art

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