SILENT MATTERS

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of Kaikado—the legendary Kyoto-based maker of handcrafted tea canisters—Silence Please presents a five-day installation of ceremonial performances in its Lower Manhattan tea house.

Titled Silent Matters, the experience blends Japanese tea ceremony with contemporary sound, light, and movement. Each performance is designed as a moment of stillness in a city of constant motion.

At the heart of the event, ADORNO presents a landmark collection of contemporary ceremonial vessels commissioned by 18 progressive ceramicists, reinterpreting the traditional ‘Chawan’ through their distinctive material practices. These limited-edition works—each produced in a series of ten—transcend functionality to become contemplative objects that challenge our perception of ritual implements.

The selected ceramicists and glass designers have approached the brief with remarkable restraint, creating pieces that articulate the tensions between tradition and innovation, form and function, presence and absence. Available exclusively at the Silence Please gallery and online at Adorno.​​​​​​​​​​​

The tea ceremony was designed by David Lavecchia, who will also co-perform it alongside tea master Yoshitsugu Nagano. The ceremony blends an ancient Song Dynasty tea rite preserved by Kennin-ji temple with the samurai aesthetics of the Ueda Sōko style of chanoyu.

Each session is accompanied by live movement choreographed by Amy Gardner, with dancers embodying the spirit of the Kennin-ji monks. A custom soundscape by Amma Ateria and generative lighting by Nate Mohler guide the experience, which runs every 30 minutes and hosts 16 guests at a time.

https://silentmatters2025.com