Tea is often approached as a habit, a flavour, or a comfort, yet its deeper meaning lives in the quiet moments it creates. From 28 January to 7 June 2026, Garden of Senses: A Tea Reverie unfolds at the Asian Civilisations Museum as a first-of-its-kind immersive showcase, inviting you to rediscover tea not just through taste and aroma, but also through sight, sound, touch, and thought. Presented in collaboration with CHAGEE and the Singapore Tourism Board, the exhibition repositions tea as a deeply human ritual shaped by centuries of craftsmanship while continuing to evolve through modern creativity.
Where Heritage Meets Contemporary Imagination
This landmark showcase marks the Asian Civilisations Museum’s first collaboration with a global lifestyle brand. By weaving together museum collections and contemporary practices, Garden of Senses creates a fresh and reflective way to engage with tea heritage. Tea appears not as a static artefact, but as a living practice that has shaped daily life across cultures and generations. The experience encourages you to slow down, reconnect with your senses and reflect on how a simple cup of tea mirrors human life itself.
A Curated Journey Through Stillness and Connection
Designed as a progressive journey, the exhibition brings together historic objects, contemporary interpretations and newly commissioned artworks by local creatives. Sculptural installations inspired by tea leaves, immersive soundscapes, fragrance-driven encounters and tactile explorations of tea-making tools invite you to experience tea in ways that feel intuitive and contemplative rather than instructional.
Artist Ashley Yeo presents an atmospheric installation that evokes the presence of tea leaves through floating paper forms, drawing attention to slowness, materiality and perception. In contrast, Symphony of Tea by Alecia Neo and composer Clarence Chung explores tea through sound, rhythm, and gesture, inspired by ASMR practices and the idea of human connection. These works do not demand attention but gently invite it, encouraging quiet observation and shared presence.
Tea as a Social and Sensory Practice
Throughout the exhibition, historic tea wares are presented as 3D-printed replicas alongside contemporary CHAGEE cups, creating a visual dialogue between past and present. Nature-inspired communal spaces are thoughtfully integrated, offering moments to pause, sit and reflect. Together, these elements mirror the social rituals that have long surrounded tea, positioning it as a practice that brings people together, whether in conversation, silence or shared contemplation.
An Extended Experience Along the Singapore River
The experience extends beyond the museum galleries with a dedicated CHAGEE pop up along the Singapore River. Here, you can explore a full selection of CHAGEE beverages alongside merchandise that was previously available only in China. Specially designed plush charms will also be introduced, including a limited edition light blue variant available exclusively to showcase ticket holders and a light brown variant offered at the pop up. Each charm blends the imagery of a horse, referencing ancient tea routes travelled by horseback, with Singapore’s iconic Merlion, symbolising the meeting of tea heritage and local identity.
Planning Your Visit
In a city that rarely slows down, Garden of Senses offers you and your loved ones a rare moment of stillness. By engaging the senses gently and intentionally, the exhibition reminds you that tea is not simply something you drink, but a ritual that has always carried meaning, memory and connection across time.
Garden of Senses: A Tea Reverie runs daily from 28 January to 7 June 2026 at the Asian Civilisations Museum. The exhibition is presented as part of the museum’s All Access ticket, which grants same day admission to all exhibitions. Admission is priced at S$12 for Singaporeans and permanent residents, and S$25 for others.
Tickets and further details are available via https://www.nhb.gov.sg/acm/whats-on/exhibitions/garden-of-senses and https://www.trip.com.
