The Inaugural Sojourners' Tea & Antiques Fair

After almost four months of ideation, conceptualisation, preparation, and design, it is with elation that we announce the inaugural instalment of the Sojourners’ Tea and Antiques Fair (STAF), happening on 12 – 14 Jan 2024 at The Lighthouse.

An exhibition and fair open to the public, STAF brings together numerous artists, collectors, and specialists from Japan and Taiwan, who will travel to Singapore to showcase their collections and works.

In this inaugural instalment, STAF presents over 300 antique and contemporary wares used in the affairs of tea, such as kettles, teapots, teacups, trays, caddies, kakejiku (掛軸 hanging scrolls), and other tea paraphernalia.

Highlights include:

• Antique Yixing teapots exported to Japan during the Qing dynasty and later era. Many of these pots were once acquired by old senchado schools or affluent families and kept in private collections in Japan over the last century.

• Contemporary works of Taiwanese artists 蘇健霖 Su Chien-Lin and 蔡曜安 Tsai Yao-An, whose striking teaware draw upon the ageless inheritance of Chinese arts to embody the refined quietude, finesse, and aesthetics of contemporary tea practices.

• Kakejiku that once reverently hung in Japan’s temples and tearooms. A witness to the passage of time and generations of practitioners, these scrolls continue to inspire many for ages to come.

• Antique tea caddies, incense holders, censers, trays, and other precious tea paraphernalia.

Many of these items came from the private collections of tea schools or old affluent families. It’s the first time an exhibition of this type is held in Singapore, where one can acquire highly valuable and collectible tea items, sometimes at astounding prices well below market value.