初道 First Path

Rae Hsu Calligraphy Solo Exhibition | MUYŌ Tea House · Uudenmaankatu 15, Helsinki | 21.8.–18.9.2026

Exhibition archive · The events below took place during the exhibition

First Path poster First Path poster — ink

One stroke. Only this moment.

Calligraphy cannot be undone, layered, copied, or corrected. The paper is thin and translucent — fragile, and yet resilient.

Between black and white alone, the fineness of nature becomes visible: its delicacy, its flow.

After fifteen years of practice, I began to loosen the rules of the tradition, borrowing materials and vocabulary from nature — developing Incense Script, incense in place of a brush and fire in place of ink, letting time and chance take part in the writing; and Worm-Eaten Script, letting go of the self, crawling slowly as an insect crawls.

Ten years of meditation run through every piece. No work is ever repeated. There is only this moment.

The word is dharma. All dharmas are empty.

The texts are drawn from Buddhist and Taoist thought — the Heart Sutra, the Diamond Sutra, the Tao Te Ching.

First Path is new grass breaking through soil. A first appearance, and a way of writing. An experiment, an attempt, and a return to the original mind.

Events
Rae Hsu performing calligraphy Huang Tai-Yuan with violin
Rae Hsu — Ink & Body
Photo — Joyce Chien
Fri 21.8.2026 | 18:00–19:00

Opening Performance

A body. A sheet of white paper. Ink, water — and sound.

To open First Path, Rae Hsu wrote with her whole body — movement becoming writing, writing becoming movement. Ink and water found their own way across the paper; nothing was decided before it happened.

Sound by Huang Tai-Yuan — multi-instrumentalist from Taiwan, weaving East Asian improvisational melodies with ambient soundscapes.

Nothing is rehearsed to be repeated. One stroke, only this moment.

A cup of tea in tatami light
Fridays 14:00–16:00 | 28.8. · 11.9. · 18.9.2026 | Three sessions

Artist Talk & Tea Time

An afternoon in the exhibition, with the artist. Rae walked guests through the works and the stories behind them — then everyone sat down for Taiwanese wild plants tea, and let the conversation find its own way: calligraphy, Zen, and the stillness within.

  • 28.8. | 火 Fire — on Incense Script: incense as brush, fire as ink
  • 11.9. | 墨 Ink — on ink and water: how a work is born
  • 18.9. | 道 The Path — the closing tea: from the first stroke to First Path
Calligraphy workshop — brush writing
Saturdays 14:00–16:00 | 22.8. · 12.9.2026 | Two sessions

Calligraphy Workshop

Calligraphy is a way of writing — and a way of coming back to yourself. In this two-hour workshop, Rae guided participants from seeing to writing — no experience and no Chinese needed.

  • Reading ink — stroke, structure, and the breath between black and white
  • One character, many lives — three thousand years, from oracle bone to cursive
  • Calligraphy as meditation — posture, breath, and holding the brush
  • Writing — words of stillness (靜心 · 自由 · 愛 · 當下), or a word of your own
  • Tea to close — Taiwanese wild plants tea; each finished piece went home with its writer