From sunrise to sunset, A,T,P is proud to host the Tea Project.
SCHEDULE,
Sunrise (5:16AM): Installation (placing the cups)
10:30AM: Tea Performance
2:30PM: Teach-in
4PM: Tea Performance
5:30PM: Teach-in & Deinstallation (returning the cups)
concluded by Sunset (8:22PM)
The Tea Project is an ongoing dialogue that traverses a variety of landscapes. From the tea sipped at a family gathering, to a cage in Guantanamo Bay, to a motor pool in Iraq, tea is not only a favored drink but a shared moment that transcends cultural divides and systems of oppression. When someone sits, sips, and reflects over a cup of tea there is space to ask questions about one’s relationship to the world: a world that is filled with dehumanization, war, and destruction; a world that is filled with moments of beauty, love, and humanity.
Amber Ginsburg and Aaron Hughes work collaboratively to uncover moments of beauty, poetics, and shared humanity within little known military histories. Taking as its starting point the curious love story of a Guantanamo Bay guard, who fell in love with the drawings carved by detainees on Styrofoam cups, the Tea Project is an ongoing series of installations and performances that offers counter-narratives to disrupt the numbing effects of war and detention. Through the Tea Project, Ginsburg and Hughes create scenarios that allow audiences a role in telling the story of our current involvement in war and torture.
The Tea Project will host a day-long exhibition and performance series that will investigate the connections between Chicago based institutions and the perpetuation of torture and extralegal detention at Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp. These relationships will be explored through Tea Performances and Teach-ins that highlight the work and personal narratives of veterans, academics, activists, and community members.
Setting the stage for this event will be 779 porcelain cast Styrofoam teacups, one for each individual that has been or is held in extralegal detention in Guantanamo since 2001. The cups are a lasting collection of artifacts reflecting a global conflict while also being individual vessels that easily lift out of display and into your hands for a cup of tea. You are invited.
DATES & LOCATIONS,
Saturday, June 4, 5:15amSouth Lawn
Arts Circle Drive
Evanston, IL 60208
