The Invisible Dog (New York City) and BUoY Arts Center (Tokyo) are thrilled to present a performance and workshop by Fuku Chakuma, as part of NAFAS TOKYO.
This performance /worksop is part of NAFAS, an international festival exploring the relationship between art and food with an exhibition of 60 artists and a series of performances, workshops and events. Discover the full program here
Furicha Free Live + Furicha Experience Session is a live performance and participatory workshop inspired by Japan’s traditional foamed-tea culture. Combining the rhythmic sounds and movements of whisking tea with electronic music, projections, and audience participation, the project reimagines the social and sensory traditions of Furicha in contemporary Tokyo. Participants are also invited to prepare and experience Batabata tea using traditional utensils, discovering tea as a practice of sound, conversation, and community.
Fuku Chakuma’s work focuses on the culture of “furi-cha,” which remains present in various parts of Japan. The custom of drinking foamed tea, including “Batabata tea,” passed down in Asahi Town in Toyama Prefecture, can be found in different forms throughout Japan, such as “Batabata tea” in Niigata Prefecture, “Bote tea” in Ehime Prefecture, and “Bukubuku tea” in the Ryukyu Islands. Unlike formalized traditions such as the tea ceremony, these are tea customs that have been nurtured through the everyday lives of ordinary people.
For example, at the Batabata Tea Folklore Museum in Asahi Town, you can see local people gathering to enjoy tea and conversation together. While the tea whisks are busily shaken and the tea is whisked, time seems to pass slowly.
In this work, Chakuma focus on how tea has been cultivated as a form of relaxation and community. Taking cues from furi-cha culture, which has a decreasing number of practitioners, we are reconsidering furi-cha as an everyday culture that loosely connects people. By bringing together tools such as tea leaves, chasen, and tea bowls that have been passed down in various places, the work explores how this tradition might find a place within a contemporary setting.
Location
BUoY Arts Center / Basement
49-11, Senju-Nakacho, Adachi-ku,
Tokyo
Admission:
To be announced soon
Date
Thursday September 44, 2026
7.30pm