Where tea lives alongside art and design. Davina Quinlivan
The Suki Tea HQ contains desks and shelves filled with books about tea, teapots and boxes of all shapes and sizes, huge sacks of tea imported from around the world and pallets, stacked and ready to go. These are things the team see every day. Then, there are things I had not imagined to find here, like the smell of jasmine which fills the air, Oscar’s sketchbooks in his office and a collection of coffee cups with various logos, neatly arranged into a column as if they were a mini art exhibit. The thing I can’t stop thinking about lives at the back of the office where there is a small kitchen with a table. Behind the table on the wall, there is the first of many pictures I find in this place: a blue cyanotype (a photograph developed through the placement of objects on a sheet of paper which uses UV light to make a blue-tinted image). Oscar tells me that this is only one of many students’ artwork he has collected over the years. Closer, the images of plants and flowers can be seen to ‘grow’ from teabags which the artist used instead of paper. It’s so clear from this artwork how tea connects to creativity, generating a positive connection with the environment and the places we call home. It’s a very beautiful piece which says so much about Suki Tea’s relationship with art.
Oscar trained as a graphic designer in UCLAN (Northern England) and his enthusiasm for art, especially its purpose to help make our lives better, is deep within the DNA of the brand. In 2014, Suki Tea began a partnership with Visual Artists Ireland, as the main sponsor of the city-wide Belfast Open Studios. 14 studios opened their doors to the public with over 250 artists involved and 3000 visitors. Tea was served, but thanks to Oscar, there is something else going on here: it’s a movement, a quietly bold and impressive one, a lovely little gesture of hope, to keep going and to keep making, not just tea, but a better society. In 2018, Suki Tea celebrated 5 years of supporting visual artists in Northern Ireland with a series of Suki Tea Talks which included discussion of the Suki Tea Art Prize (a two month residency in Paris). The work continues with many projects underway and regular involvement with the local art college.
We want to celebrate the success of all the Btec Extended National Diploma Art & Design Year 2 - 2024 !
Congratulations to all the Year 2 students for successfully completing the 2 year course and presenting a fantastic wide range of skills from printmaking, photography, 3D design, digital artwork, painting and textiles for this innovative end of year show.
✨We wish you all every success in your future pathways.
☕️
Thank you to all the tutors:
Caroline Hepburn
Jackie Campbell
Fiona Jiandani
Eilish Bergin
Thank you to all the technicians:
Emily Esdale
Cara McCaughey
Georgia McBride
@sukitea @carolinehepburn @jackiecrooks.artist @emilyesdaleart @georgiamcbride0
