About Us

There’s nothing better than
A cup of tea with a stranger!

We are addicted to tea!
We are addicted to strangers!

Hello.
We are Arty & Nane.

And we are happy to welcome you on our “Tea with Strangers” project’s blog.

The idea behind the project is simple. We take our tea sets, go sit in public places (parks, squares, streets, etc.), prepare tea according to Chinese traditions, and invite complete strangers to join us for a cup of tea! We introduce the tea, ourselves, they introduce themselves. We share our stories, they share theirs. People leave, we’ll probably never see them again. They continue their way, we stay and greet new strangers. Same-same, but different. Different stories, different lives.

The best parts of our conversations and photographs are being posted here and on our Facebook page, so that people can follow the stories of strangers we meet during our tea ceremony sessions.

Initially, the project was started in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. But we hope to travel to other cities and other countries, and collect stories there, too. So far we’ve visited the cities of Gyumri and Etchmiadzin in Armenia, and Isfahan, Iran.

Our aim is to erase any borders between people who may seem to be strangers to each other, but we’re all water from different rivers after all.

This project was funded by Awesome Foundation Yerevan Chapter.

Media about us:
–Are people of Yerevan ready to share tea with strangers? (in Armenian)
–Would you like a cup of tea? (in Armenian)