TEA TEA
2023
Banff Centre. Meeting for Teas.
Mediums: Handmade paper with cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and black peppercorns. Handmade ceramics. Silkscreened text and graphics. Audio description 8:14.
​
Special thanks to Wendy Tokaryk, Ed Bamiling and Chelsea Yang-Smith for technical assistance.
Tea, tea is a questioning of what we hold on to from our lineage as well as how to preserve traditions while
living in a world that tries to appropriate and empty them of any sort of social and relational significance.
​
The one thing that I feel completely confident that I have held on to from my lineage as someone who grew up Ismaili Muslim with Indian and Ugandan roots, is how to make a proper, triple boiled, spicy masala chai. The kind of special, mindful chai you make for guests. The chai that fuels gossip between aunties. The chai you make when you haven’t seen someone for a while. The smell, taste, warmth, slowness and care in preparation all creating a welcoming ambiance. ​​​​​
I remember working at Starbucks in my 20’s and feeling uncomfortable making people their chai tea lattes out of sticky mass produced syrup with added milk served in disposable cups. We had a time limit or secret shoppers could report that we weren’t fast enough. Creating these beverages to go, contradicted a tradition that for me always was a gesture inviting someone to stay. A ritual that inherently embraced an anti-urgency ethic. Everything could stop when a loved one popped in for chai.
For this residency, I used tea as a starting point to explore slowness and anti-urgency. I am informed by a disability justice perspective that questions why value is based on productivity. I would love to play with non-transactional action. I believe the way we consume and interact with each other is becoming increasingly disposable and transactional. I would like to develop work that supports a slowing down and appreciation for the little moments of connection that we take for granted.
I created at-home relational art kits using my mom’s recipe for masala chai as a launching point for a relational experience. I am particularly interested in developing at home exhibition experiences because even though things have opened up to take place in person, I feel like there are many people that don’t feel safe or comfortable being in physical space with others. I would like to make a beautiful experience of connection that honors the masala chai I grew up with.
Transcript:
​
Welcome to the tea, tea experience. My name is Salima Punjani and I will guide you through this at home kit. I decided to make this at-home relational art experience while thinking about what I hold on to from the teachings my mother has passed on to me. What came to mind was a warm, slowly made cup of masala chai - and this is what I would like to share with you.
I invite you to touch the first page. It is yellow dyed handmade paper with cardamom pods. It might still smell like the spices. Take a moment to trace the shells and seeds of the spice.
When you are ready, move on to the next page. It is handmade paper infused with black tea bags and speckled with tea dust. It reads Tea, Tea, an experience of connectedness by Salima Punjani.
On the other side, there could be graphics of page green cardamom pods or dark blue star anise. There is text in a typewriter font that says “This experience is inspired from the sense of comfort, slowness and connection that masala chai symbolizes for me. To start think about who you want to share the experience with.”
Something I am thinking about here at the Banff Centre is inviting and honoring non-human connections. If you’d like, you can set up a cup and see what joins you.
The next page is a pale earthy green and is infused with loosely ground cloves. Take a moment to run your finger along the paper.
Next are the ingredients. You should have little envelopes filled with cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, star anise and black pepper.
Here are some prompts to think about as you explore the spices:
Crush the pods in your hands. Smell them. Put one in your mouth and crush it with your teeth. Notice the taste, smell, texture. The contrast between the different layers.
Feel the edges of the star anise. Notice the shape. The roughness. The smell. Where else have you seen this shape?
Roll the black pepper between your fingers while you look around you. Take a moment to daydream. How spicy would you like your tea?
Rub the cloves between your hands. What sound do they make? Put your hands over your face and take a deep breath. What does the smell remind you of?
Hold the cinnamon under your nose. Close your eyes. Breathe.
The way I learned to cook from my mom was very non-specific. There’s a bit of this, a bit of that. A pinch here, a spoon there. This is how I wrote this recipe. Feel free to play and enjoy the sensory process of slowing down and spending time with the ingredients.
Text on handmade black tea paper with a blue ginger graphic reads:
Ingredients:
Star anise + Black pepper
Fresh ginger + Cardamom + Cloves
Cinnamon + Black tea + Milk + Sugar
Gather:
Your favorite cups + Saucepan + Strainer + Fresh ginger + Milk and sugar of choice + Snacks
Usually at home I use jaggery, an unprocessed sugar. You can find it in an international food store.
Let’s chat about ginger. I like my masala chai heavy on ginger. I couldn’t send it in the package, so instead, I handmade you a ceramic ginger friend.
One of the first ceramic pieces I made at the Banff Centre was a tea pet that a few fellow residents suggested making. I was inspired by this to make a series of ginger friends. I made them to hold and keep with you if you’d like some company.
It’s time for the instructions:
Text reads:
​
Instructions
Feel the spices in your hands. Smell them. Listen to how your body responds. Decide if you feel like using them.
Add however much feels good for you into the saucepan, along with the black tea. Boil until fragrant.
The next page is a reddish brown handmade paper with loosely ground cinnamon in it. Take a moment to feel the texture.
Okay. The next part is a bit tricky. Once you’ve boiled the spices and tea, it’s time to add milk. I admittedly forgot to tell you to add sugar in the text, but we’ll get there.
So, add milk and wait for it to boil. Pay very close attention because it can boil over really fast.
Once it boils, remove from heat. Let it calm down. Then do it again and once again.
Text on handmade abaca paper with tea dust and a graphic of lilac coloured cloves in the background reads:
Add milk... Let it boil...
Remove from heat when bubbles start to rise.
Let it simmer down. Then let it boil again. Repeat one more time.
Strain into cups.
Enjoy in good company.
The other side of the paper has a silk screened graphic of pale green cardamom pods and says
“Made by Salima Punjani during the Meeting for Teas Residency. Banff Centre, 2023.”
The final page is a pale grey handmade cotton pulp paper with full black peppercorns engrained in it. When I made it smelled incredible. It was a really joyful process interacting with the spices in this way, and I hope that you are sharing some of that pleasure and joy with me. Thank you for joining the Tea, Tea experience.
I would like to thank the Banff Centre for the opportunity to play and learn. All the amazing Meeting for Teas participants as well as Wendy Tokaryk, Ed Bamiling, Chelsea Yang-Smith, Johnathan Onyschuk and all the other support staff and faculty at the Banff Centre for helping to make this project happen. ​​​
