Kayoi Tokkuri, Prada Home Chawan Cabinet, Ceramics collection by Thearster Gates, 2026.
The Chawan: Object, Gesture, Relationship
At the heart of the project is the chawan, the tea bowl central to Japanese tea culture. More than a functional object, it embodies a gesture: an invitation to engage with its form and surface in a deliberate, attentive and honorific way. The chawan is an expression of hospitality, an offering that conveys care, respect, and presence.
Alongside the chawan, other ceramic forms extend this vocabulary of use and relation.
Shifting the emphasis from possession to experience, from display to use, from object to relationship, Chawan Cabinet ultimately speaks to a broader reflection: on how we live, how we come together, and how through form, repetition, and experimentation, even the most human gestures and simple vessels can acquire depth, meaning, and presence. Prada’s longstanding dialogue between intellectual inquiry and material innovation finds here a new extension into the domestic sphere as a framework for spaces and forms of exchange. The collaboration bridges distinct yet resonant worlds: Italian design, Japanese craft traditions, and Theaster Gates’ artistic and social practice.