Storm in a Teacup reflects upon tea drinking in Australia. Introduced by the British colonials, the afternoon tea party was an attempt to ‘civilise’ the land. Tea drinking became so popular in the colonies that by 1888 the amount of tea consumed per capita exceeded the amount consumed in England. Soon after, billy tea was to become an enduring symbol of the pioneering spirit, immortalised by Henry Lawson’s stories published under the title While the billy boils.

Beginning with elegant paintings of the afternoon tea table from E. Phillips Fox and Arthur Streeton, the exhibition goes on to explore the darker side of tea drinking and the social and environmental impacts of the humble cup of tea. Michael Cook’s Object (table), 2015, provides an alternative history to the narrative of colonialism while Sharon West and Adam Hill both use humour to subvert colonial understandings of the afternoon tea party as an occasion of refined gentility.

Storm in a Teacup features paintings, works on paper, photographs, ceramics, sculpture and installation by:

Julian ASHTON, Kate BERGIN, Charles BLACKMAN, Stephen BOWERS, Emma Minnie BOYD, Lyndell BROWN & Charles GREEN, Penny BYRNE, Michael COOK, eX de MEDICI, Julia deVILLE, Julie DOWLING, Marian DREW, Bern EMMERICHS, Samantha EVERTON, E. Phillips FOX, Rosalie GASCOIGNE, Betty GREENHATCH, Adam HILL, HOTHAM STREET LADIES, Yenny  HUBER, Clare HUMPHRIES, Trent JANSEN, Marion MANIFOLD, Danie MELLOR, Kendal MURRAY, Polixeni PAPAPETROU, John PERCEVAL, Robyn PHELAN, Giuseppe ROMEO, Heather SHIMMEN, Darren SIWES, Vipoo SRIVILASA, Natascha STELLMACH, Arthur STREETON, Sharon WEST, Anne ZAHALKA