A successful three hour long workshop always needs careful planning! The Workshop for handcrafting incense cakes was aimed at sharing the rich culture of Chinese style incense handcrafts, and educating people who are interested in this skill. Therefore, the target of the participants were mainly Chinese people in Richmond.
Selecting a venue was an important consideration. After weeks of searching, the Grand Tea House was a perfect solution for a private, active, and hands-on activity with a beautiful display of Chinese tea varieties.
The sets of handcrafting tools and utensils, including handcraft pads, small spoons, brushes, plates, incense scrubbed ball containers, scales, and many others were carefully packed, carried to the venue, and made available to the participants. It was a bit challenging to remember every tiny part.
Several volunteers came to help set up, greet participants, taking photos, pack tools, and even playing Guqin as background music, which enhanced the artistic atmosphere of the handcrafts workshop.
The Workshop went very well, amazing scents of incense powders filled the tea house during the three hour session, all participants were happy to learn the skills and went away with the full jars of their self made incense cakes which they would later burn without smoke or put in a necklace for wearing.
Making this workshop project happen provided an opportunity for me to understand the steps in how to apply for the Neighbourhood Small Grants, breakdown the grants to the needed costs, and most importantly, helped me to appreciate the support from the grant giver for promoting the diversified cultural environment in Richmond. Really hope Chinese style incense handcrafts will spread wider, and attract more people’s interests.
