TIFTON — Haruna Tatsukawa’s wrist moved back and forth so swiftly it mimicked the impossible rhythm of a hummingbird’s wing. She was mixing tea to serve to five lucky guests. Anna Barnes, her partner in performing the Tea Ceremony, explained that every action in the ceremony was deliberate and performed in an effort to serve their guests well.

Tatsukawa and Barnes were invited by Mark Errol and Glenn Josey from Plough Gallery to perform a Tea Ceremony for the Tifton community. On April 15, a year of planning finally culminated. The ceremony took the combined effort of Errol and Josey, the Japan-America Society of Georgia and Polly Huff, Georgia Museum of Agriculture’s Gallery curator and assistant director.

Before the tea was mixed and tasted at the Peanut Museum, Plough Gallery was open with a new show displaying artists from across the globe. Tea pots and tea bowls of all shapes, colors and textures on display at the gallery created a median that visitors could wade through. Some of Errol’s students came as well as other professors from Valdosta and Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College to see the work and the ceremony.

One professor, Natsumi Hayashi, Japanese language instructor at Valdosta State University, brought her class so they could experience Japanese culture.

“I have many students that want to learn Japanese but they have seldom chance to meet Japanese [people] and do something in Japanese culture,” said Hayashi.

Opportunities like this, she explained, help her students get a richer understanding of the language and culture.

“It’s good for students to experience,” Hayashi said.

Hayashi’s students were not the only ones learning at the show.

Artists who lived within driving distance also came to see their work in the gallery and at the ceremony.

Barry Rhodes, from Decatur, made tea bowls for the show. He said they were different from the geometric, sharp-lined pieces he usually makes. The tea bowls took on a more naturally formed look.

“What they really represent to me is somebody holding them in their hand,” said Rhodes.

He cupped his hands together, mimicking the imperfect curvature of the bowls he crafted for the show.

“This is sort of the quintessential vessel for drinking,” he said. Using the hand to scoop water to drink, Rhodes noted, has been happening since “before history.”

At the Tea Ceremony, five raffle tickets were chosen indicating who would participate in the ceremony, held in the Peanut Museum at the Georgia Museum of Agriculture (GMA). One by one Sarah Moore, Juyoung Kim, Mary Alice Applegate, Sara Pratt and Adam Cox made their way to a table in the center of the museum.

Suspended above the table were kimonos loaned by Hisae Eason. The wooden interior of the museum, with its high beams and mezzanine, made a grand space for a tea ceremony. Around the museum, between tea pots and bowls on display as well as artifacts, were samples of hot and cold tea for visitors to try. An enormous open door allowed the ceremony to be lit by the sun as it transitioned to evening.

Haruna Tatsukawa and Anna Barnes were silhouetted in gold as Tatsukawa performed the ceremony and Barnes explained to those being served how to properly handle the tea bowl and the meaning behind every movement.

Despite the museum being crowded, people lined the mezzanine railing peering from overhead; the room was quiet as each took their drink of tea.

Afterward, the participants agreed it was intimidating, but worthwhile.

“It was elegant. It was unique,” said Applegate.

She said she understood that the message of the ceremony was being present and that “every moment is precious.”

Moore was the first to drink. She said that while at first it was nerve-wracking, “overall it was really relaxing.”

“I think because it was quiet there wasn’t a lot of pressure to perform. It was just about enjoying it,” she said.

Moore isn’t alone. Hisae Eason, who loaned the kimonos and artifacts on display, said that she too enjoyed it. Eason said that watching the ceremony was like being in Japan and that it made memories come back to her.

Polly Huff was struck by the meaning of the ceremony.

“What we saw tonight in the Japanese ceremony, all the grace and the hospitality that they showed really connected with people here because it showed the way of the south, too,” said Huff.

Errol, Josey and Huff plan to collaborate on more events in the future. They all enjoyed creating and hosting the ceremony together. Josey watched the lingering crowd mingle in the museum and said, “If it wasn’t for the people supporting us we wouldn’t be here. We wouldn’t be able to do the next event, you know?”

The tea pots and tea bowls will be on display at Plough Gallery for a few more weeks for viewing and purchasing. Plough Gallery is located at 1203 College Ave. It can be found online at https://www.facebook.com/plough/.