Kia ora tea drinkers! Let’s Have a Cuppa is a nationwide, lockdown-endorsed event brought to you by the George Festival of Tableware and the Ceramics Association of New Zealand. In the wake of the postponement of the George Festival of Tableware (originally scheduled for August), the team are bringing the festival to you at home whilst we all navigate daily life under exceptional circumstances.
Conceived in a time of crisis to celebrate and support New Zealand potters, Let’s Have a Cuppa is an event for makers to get together, in the COVID-19 sense of the word. It’s your chance to share in togetherness online through inspiring videos, tutorials, conversations, and of course, through the soothing act of drinking tea out of a thoughtfully handmade cup.
While studio potters around Aotearoa will be commissioned to make four tea cups in their own style, makers at home can purchase a kit set on Felt and follow along with tutorials on how to make your own tea cups. On 9 August, we’ll sit down collectively for tea, to ponder, to inspire peace and gratitude, and you’re invited to share your tea time on social media.
The first Make Along will be posted on Instagram on the evening of Friday 15 May. To take part, order your kit set now – it contains hand working tools, white clay, local sand, and instructions for you to make a pair of tea cups, guided by ceramic artist Bleuette Hille in a make along video available from 15 May. Each kit set has enough material to make TWO beautiful speckled cups. Delightful!
The workshop is perfect for first time potters as well as the seasoned masters – you bring your skill set and you’ll come out with a cup for for a monarch. In your kit set there will also be info on how to fire your tea cups in your region.
You can purchase a kitset (or five, for guaranteed bubble fun), and here’s a hot tip: to personalise your project to your region, pop down to your local beach and grab a few tablespoons of sand. Make sure you wash and dry it (salt and clay aren’t really friends) and use half a teaspoon in your tea cup. Voila! Local sand inclusion to remind you of great times at the beach every time you take a sip.
