Rivane Ferreira
Tea as a language
for talking about the world.
I’m Rivane Ferreira, a Brazilian tea drinker, educator and textile artist based in Portugal. I also facilitate tea experiences, rituals and ceremonies.
I have studied tea culture since 2001. I am interested in what lies within and around the cup: the plant, territory, leaf processing, water, objects and the people who keep this knowledge alive.
O TAO DO CHÁ grew from this path. It brings together study, practice, travel, art, education and the encounters that happen when someone prepares tea for another person.
RIVANE FERREIRA · EDUCATOR · TEXTILE ARTIST · FACILITATOR
Since 2001
I began in the United States.
I began studying tea in the United States in 2001, where I first encountered Chinese forms of preparation. I continued that journey in Brazil and deepened it again after moving to Portugal in 2018.
Over the years, tea became connected to other parts of my work: non-formal education, social and environmental projects, textile art and research with natural pigments.
For more than a decade I have worked with groups, especially women and young people, on projects in Brazil and Portugal. This experience taught me to build a class through listening, practical experience and the knowledge each person already brings.
I share what I have studied, practised and been able to verify. When I am uncertain, I return to the sources, speak with people who know more and keep learning. Tea asks for that attention: to look again, taste once more and never treat an answer as final.
See talks and projects →The meaning of the name
Why it is called
O TAO DO CHÁ.
“Tao” can be translated as the way or the path. I chose this name because tea gives me a tangible way to approach Taoist principles that have long stayed with me: simplicity, attention to the natural rhythm of things, transformation and a kind of balance that cannot be forced.
O TAO DO CHÁ does not set out to teach Taoism or speak on its behalf. The inspiration lies in the idea of a path. Tea, too, cannot be reduced to a single answer or technique: every leaf carries a territory, every preparation asks for attention, and every gathering around the cup adds something to the journey.
That is why, for me, tea is more than a drink. It is a practice, a field of study and a way of reading the world while I continue to learn.
Territories and field notes
I also learn
when I travel.
Each place brought a different lesson.
- Sri Lanka
- Visited as part of my study and observation of tea culture.
- Nepal
- Visited as part of my study and observation of tea culture.
- India
- Visited as part of my study and observation of tea culture.
- Thailand
- Visited as part of my study and observation of tea culture.
- Azores, Portugal
- A visit to a tea factory and observation of Camellia sinensis cultivation and processing in Portugal.
- Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Observation of tea houses, luxury hospitality, utensils, presentation and contemporary service. Dubai is not presented as a tea-producing territory.
Public work
Talks
and professional encounters.
Selected appearances at drinks and hospitality events in Portugal.