
CHA CHA
Water Street Projects, the roving interdisciplinary nonprofit platform, presents CHA CHA, an immersive festival inspired by tea and its rituals set to open the weekend of February 1st during Lunar New Year 2025. Through tea’s myriad forms — aroma, texture, color and flavor, visitors will experience innovative interpretations of how we gather to share tea and more. Over the course of four consecutive weekends, this event invites the public to experience the rich cultural heritage of tea through a multi-sensory environment
created by an array of contributing artists and designers.
The free public festival will take place throughout the 40,000-square-foot Water Street Projects exhibition and community space located on the fifth and sixth floors of WSA, an iconic skyscraper and cultural hub in Lower Manhattan (161 Water Street). Conceived by Karen Wong, the cofounder of New Museum’s groundbreaking initiatives IdeasCity, NEW INC, and Onassis ONX, the presentation highlights five artists/designers commissioned to re-imagine a tea house inspired by five culturally significant Asian teas: pu-erh, oolong, hojicha, chai, and lotus tea.
These installations will reflect the history, aesthetics, and ritualistic significance of tea, along with its social and cultural importance. Selected design teams include mother-daughter architectural pair Toshiko Mori and Tei Carpenter, landscape artists Studio Lily Kwong led by Shannon Lai, furniture and product designers Chen Chen and Kai Williams, architectural designer Areesha Khalid, and creative technologists Aaron Santiago and Michaela Ternasky-Holland. The first AAPI partner of renowned design consultancy Pentagram, Natasha Jen, and her team have designed the festival’s identity — marking a celebration timed to Lunar New Year and beyond.