A Tea Ceremony Where Light Meets Matter
In a serene fusion of ancient ritual and nanoscience, the MetaDō tea ceremony unfolded at the Royal Society as part of its Summer Science Exhibition exhibit, offering participants a contemplative journey through light, colour, and metamaterials.
Metamaterials are artificial materials engineered at the nanoscale to interact with light in ways not found in nature. By precisely structuring them at dimensions smaller than the wavelength of light, scientists can manipulate how light behaves. Guided by artist Yukako Tanaka, the ceremony invited guests to engage in the Japanese tradition of Dō (mindful practice) while exploring the invisible beauty of engineered nanostructures.
Tanaka, inspired by her collaboration with physicists, observed striking parallels between the way researchers examine metamaterials and the attentiveness cultivated in tea ceremonies. Just as a scientist inspects a sample from multiple angles, the metamaterial film used in MetaDō revealed different colours and textures depending on the viewer’s perspective, an optical phenomenon that became a metaphor for perception and presence.
The ceremony unfolded in stages—“The First Gesture,” “The First Brew,” and “The Second Brew”, each revealing the interplay between the metamaterials and light. As tea was poured and colour shifted through nanoscale structures, participants were invited to reflect on transformation, attention, and the unseen forces shaping our world.
MetaDō offered not just tea, but a moment of stillness and scientific wonder—where the cup became a lens, and the ritual a portal into the quantum realm.