DPhil Research: Melody

Melody's (proposed) thesis title is The Taste of Tea and Shape of Smell: A Sensory Archaeology Approach to Chinese Tea and Ceramics (DPhil Archaeology. As part of her research she organised a series of events and workshops at the Ashmolean Museum in collaboration with Dr Jenny Wang from the Weave Yard. Their project 'Breeze and Brew' explored how museum collections, academic research, and lived experiences might meaningfully intersect through shared cultural experience.

Rather than positioning visitors as passive audiences, the project invited participants to become active contributors to the interpretation of museum collections and cultural experience. Participants explored the Ashmolean’s Gallery collections and East Asian Study Room, handled objects connected to tea culture, reflected collectively on sensory experience through tea tasting, and created their own painted fans in response to what they encountered. Their reflections, stories, and artworks were later presented through a community-led digital exhibition.

In one session, participants took part in a tea experiment using reconstructed historical cup forms developed through archaeological research. The experience prompted wide-ranging conversations around sensory perception, memory, embodiment, and cultural experience, as participants reflected collectively on the relationship between objects and everyday experiences.

Dr Wang published this article detailing their workshop experiences in The Oxford Blue: 'Breeze & Brew: reimagining community curation through fans and tea in Oxford.'

Images by Shutong Jin and Huhongyan Tian