Rasha Tayeh

Beit e’Shai Online Store is here!

~ rashatayeh

I am thrilled to announce that my new Beit e’Shai® products are now available online! Why not treat yourself to a delicious organic herbal tea?

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Beit e’Shai® (House of Tea in Arabic, pronounced bayt eh shy) is a Melbourne based online apothecary and teahouse. All teas and tisanes are handmade by yours truly, using 100% natural blends from certified organic ingredients.

Drawing on my knowledge and appreciation of traditional Arabic medicine and herbalism, I create aromatic teas and tisanes that focus on health, wellbeing and comfort.

Inspired by traditional Middle Eastern teahouses and apothecaries, my range at Beit e’Shai® offers beautiful blends that are made from high quality herbs and spices for you to enjoy with your family and friends.

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Trading at Markets: Warrandyte Riverside Market

I will be trading tomorrow, Saturday April 7th, from 8am – 1pm at Warrandyte Riverside Market.  Drop by for a cuppa tea and enjoy a beautiful morning by the river.  Also, be sure to follow  Beit e’Shai® on Instagram and Facebook for updates on my regular market stalls and pop-up shops around Melbourne.

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Tea of the Month: Immunity

With Autumn upon us and the cooler weather approaching, you may experience some cold and flu symptoms.  My Immunity Organic Herbal Tea is a warming, spicy blend designed to strengthen the immune system and promote wellness during this shifting season.  Immunity Organic Herbal Tea contains: Peppermint, Lemon Verbena, Thyme, and Ginger & Turmeric (all ingredients are certified organic).
For more information, or to place an order visit Beit e’Shai® website.

I love Autumn, and although it makes me feel nostalgic, its a beautiful reminder to let go of the things that don’t serve us anymore.  Try this meditation every day this season: observe the trees around you while their leaves turn from green to orange and yellow, and as they fall to the ground.  This is mother nature’s gentle reminder to let be, and let go.

I hope to see you tomorrow in Warrandyte for a cuppa tea, as we honour this time of year by the river and trees.

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Other news: Workshops in 2018

I haven’t had a chance to host many workshops this summer as I’ve been very busy with market stalls & setting up my online store. However, expect a new Winter Wellness Series where I will be discussing how we can use the magic of herbs and wholefoods to take care of our minds, bodies and spirits during Melbourne’s colder months. Stay tuned!

*Shout out to my very talented friend Phoebe Powell for the gorgeous Beit e’Shai® images in this post.  Thanks Phoebs, I love your work! 

Beit e’Shai now open!

~ rashatayeh

I haven’t posted on here for a while, apologies for the radio silence! I’ve been busy working on my new organic tea brand & mixing herbs for my apothecary. And Im super excited to announce the soft launch this week in Melbourne.

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Beit e’Shai, Arabic for House of Tea, is an apothecary & gallery for organic teas, tisanes & teawares.  All blends are carefully handmade by myself with an aim to support health & wellbeing.  Ingredients are sourced from as close as Maldon & Castlemaine in Central Victoria and as far as Palestine & Egypt. All ingredients are Certified Organic by Australian standards.

An online store will be launched early 2018 at www.beiteshai.com and I’ll also be trading from various artisan & farmers markets around Melbourne & regional Victoria.  Well, until a more permanent tea house is born.

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But for now, I have teamed up with two amazing friends to set up a PopUp Shop & Gallery in Brunswick this week before Christmas.  The three of us will have some lovely treats for your last minute Christmas shopping, so be sure to drop in for a cuppa & a look at some of the amazing art. All works are for sale, check out these links for the works by two very talented women; Chi&Ko Design and Vanessa Aloia.

I will sit the gallery/shop on these trading days, starting tomorrow.  Come in & say hi.

And I’d like to also take this opportunity to thank you for all your support in 2017 and wish you a wonderful & peaceful 2018.

Love, Rasha x

 

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Winter Apothecary & Open Studio

~ rashatayeh ~ 1 Comment

Winter is time to reflect, conserve energy and go deeply inwards.
I will be using this time to catch up on research, writing and medicine making.

Before I take a break from hosting workshops during the colder months, I would like to invite you to a Winter Apothecary workshop of medicine making at my studio.

During the workshop we will make an ointment, syrup and herbal infusion – using simple & safe homemade recipes that help support us during winter, strengthen our immunity & protect us from general ailments.

You will also have an opportunity at the end of the workshop to view/experience selected works from my previous art exhibitions, including audio portraits from “On Food & Memory” and short film screening “Growing Food Project” – with an opportunity to ask questions about my creative practice & the research behind “Spice Trails & Trade Routes”.

Cost: $35 per person
When: 2:30pm – 4:30pm, Saturday 13th May 2017
Where: MESMA Studio, Level 1, 6 Nicholson St Coburg

For bookings visit: https://www.trybooking.com/PNGK
Spaces limited to 20 guests

Since its Mother’s Day the following day, if you book 2 tickets & bring your mama along, you can purchase 2 tickets for $60.

For your Mother’s day discount, enter this promotional discount code: mama-love
(this only applies when purchasing two tickets).

If you have any allergies please be sure to let me know via email, when you book. The ingredients used may contain honey, beeswax, nut & seed based oils.

If you have any questions, please contact me on rasha.tayeh@gmail.com

Spice Trails & Trade Routes

~ rashatayeh ~ 2 Comments

You are invited to this special event that is part dinner, part performance & part installation.

Hosted by artist & nutritionist Rasha Tayeh, in collaboration with creative chef Shu Liu.

Imagine an ancient map as your dinner table, tracing Silk Road and other important trade routes. Explore through taste and smell a journey that shaped the development and destruction of great civilisations and in turn, the way we eat today.

Each stop along the road will deliver a special course featuring a particular herb or spice. As you take this culinary journey across the dinner table, you will be invited to tell stories of spice merchants and traders. Stories will unfold at each stop and with each course.

This intimate dinner party is at 7pm Friday 28th April 2017 at MESMA Studio (limited to 20 guests only).

$120 per person includes 5-course dinner, or $150 per person for dinner including wine.

To book your ticket please visit this link.

The participatory story telling during this curated dinner may be in various languages, with interpretations in Arabic, English & Auslan (Australian Sign Language).

Please note, the menu is vegetarian/vegan, but if you are strictly vegan or have any allergies, get in touch when you book your ticket to ensure you are catered for accordingly.

For more information contact: rasha.tayeh@gmail.com

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Rasha Tayeh is a Palestinian artist based in Melbourne; her work crosses a range of photography, film, sound and installation practices. She is also a nutritionist and researcher interested in food history, food anthropology, and the space where art and health intersect. Rasha’s work draws on themes around phenomenology, identity, feminist issues, spirituality and humans’ place in society and their natural environment. Her work has been exhibited at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (Melbourne), National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne), International Arts & Health Conference at the National Gallery of Australia (Canberra), Alderman Gallery (Melbourne), Sustainable Living Festival (Melbourne), Transitions Film Festival (Melbourne & Adelaide), Environmental Film Festival (Melbourne), Sguardi Altrove Film Festival (Milan), Hidden Features Cinema (Edinburgh), Life Sciences Film Festival (Prague), Palestine Museum of Natural History (Bethlehem), Little Woods Gallery (Melbourne) and Footscray Community Arts Centre (Melbourne).

Shu Liu is a self-taught creative chef and owner of Shu Restaurant in Collingwood.  He’s passionate about experimenting with flavours and textures from his hometown cuisine in Sichuan.  Shu’s recipes and menu design reflect seasonal and local produce, with a focus on fusion cooking.

Palestinian Cooking Workshop: Autumn Equinox

~ rashatayeh

This installment of my Palestinian Cooking Workshop series is inspired by the Autumnal Equinox* and this lovely time of year when leaves change colour, days start get slightly shorter and a bit cooler. As usual I will draw inspiration from mama & teita (my mother & grandmother), who taught me everything I know about cooking, and passed down a wealth of nurturing recipes!

This two-hour workshop will take you on a sensory journey into Palestinian cuisine and look specifically at foods and herbs that support us during the transitions of autumn, as we move away from the warmer months of summer into the cooler months of winter.

During the workshop we will focus on:

– Traditional herbal infusions & remedies, from selected herbs and spices used in Palestine and the Levant

– Cook a delicious vegan meal & discuss nutritional benefits of seasonal produce**

Participants will go home with:

  • Recipes of the meal shared on the day
  • A deeper understanding & curiosity for delicious foods from Palestine & traditional herbal medicine
  • A jar of their personally crafted herbal infusion (optional for $8 each during the workshop, cash only)

This workshop is limited to 12 spaces. So, book early.

Cost: $65, to book click here. 

When: 2:30pm – 4:30pm, Sunday 26th March 2017

Where: CERES Community Kitchen, cnr Roberts & Stewart St Brunswick East VIC 3057

If you have any questions, please contact me on rasha.tayeh@gmail.com

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*An Equinox is an astronomical event that happens twice a year, once in spring and once in autumn. It’s when the tilt of the Earth’s axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun. During Equinoxes the tilt of the Earth (with respect to the Sun) is 0° and because of it, the duration of the day and the night are almost equal on Equinox day i.e. 12 hours.

Equinoxes occur on 20th or 21st March and 22nd or 23rd September each year and both days have equal length of day and night. While it is autumn time in the Southern hemisphere, March Equinox is called Autumnal Equinox, and in Melbourne this year, it falls on the 20th March. So to celebrate this time of year and connect with the natural cycles, this workshop’s content will reference the Equinox, its energy, transitions and the seasonal foods & medicinal herbs we can use to best support our bodies, minds and spirits.

**Vegan light snack/tasting included – please contact me when you book if you have any allergies.

Growing Food Project

~ rashatayeh ~ 1 Comment

It’s been 3 years since I released my short film the Growing Food Project (2013), and as this year is coming to a close, I’m feeling quite reflective thinking about how things have changed in the last few years… and how many more local food projects have sprung up around Melbourne since this little film was made.

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Video still, Growing Food Project (2013)

This 15-minute film documents Melbourne’s local food movement and community food initiatives, where people come together to build local, fair and sustainable food systems.  I feel honoured that most of the people featured in the film & others who have worked behind the scenes are good friends of mine.  To learn more about the film check out this blog post from the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV).

The film had a great run screening nationally & internationally.  And I’m really humbled by the feedback I received and the number of emails telling me that since watching this little film, some people felt inspired to start a garden in their homes or their neighbourhoods.

It makes my heart smile knowing that the art I create resonates.

The film has been offline for a bit, while screening at international film festivals.  But the time has come to share it with you again…  So click here to watch it.

In loving memory of my dear friend & teacher, Glenda M Lindsay Jan 23 1954 – Jan 15 2017.

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Video still, Growing Food Project (2013)

 

Growing Food Project, film by Rasha Tayeh © All Rights ReservedPrint

 

Spring Rhythm at the Flower & Garden Market

~ rashatayeh

I’ll be hosting another delicious workshop at the Flower & Garden Market on Sunday 9 October at Barkly Square in Brunswick.  You’re invited to balance and renew your energy with medicinal herbs from your home garden or pantry, and learn about the benefits of seasonal produce.

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As we enter the warmer months, support your body & mind into healthier rhythm and vitality, away from the sluggishness of winter.  The Spring Rhythm workshop will include an introduction to selected medicinal herbs commonly found in a home garden & pantry, along with a herbal infusion tasting.  And we will discuss some benefits of selected seasonal produce & have a tasting of a yummy Spring Cleansing juice.

This 45-minute workshop will run twice during the day, at 11am & 12.30pm.  Spaces are limited, so arrive early to book your spot in advance.

For more information visit Barkly Square’s website at this link.rasha-photos-10Also at the market, Ben Taylor CERES horticulturalist will be hosting gardening workshops & the Glasshaus’ pop-up nursery will be open.  There will be opportunities to learn about potting and caring for plants with propagation masterclasses, kids gardening, pot painting and terrarium workshops from the colourful creative team at Home-Work.  You’re also encouraged to bring your heirloom seeds & seedlings to swap with your neighbours.

Sounds like a pretty great day to me!  See you at Barkly Square on Sunday 9th October (located at 90 – 106 Sydney Rd, Brunswick).

 

Wellness Apothecary at Spring Fling Festival

~ rashatayeh

The annual 3000acres Spring Fling Festival is next Saturday 24th September & I’m super excited to be part of it!  Join us as we celebrate the warmer months & the start of a new growing season.

The day will be packed with free gardening and sustainability workshops, a huge pop-up plant sale, kids activities, live music & food stalls in the lush grounds of the Saxon st Community Garden in Brunswick.

I’ll be running a 30-minute workshop on the day, this Wellness Apothecary workshop will include tips on growing & preparing medicinal herbs & infusions.  It’s been a long & hard winter in Melbourne this year, so a little bit of herbal loving is just what some of us need to revitalise!

This workshop will be a free teaser for a course I’m currently designing, which will be launched this Spring/Summer (more on that soon!).

I feel honoured to be part of this festival & amongst this amazing lineup of workshops:

There are also some brilliant people selling their goods and spreading free advice, including: Pip Magazine, Brunswick Tool Library, BioFilta, FareShare, Youth Food Movement & Bee-Keepa.  The Community Grocer will have a pop up fruit and veggie stall for all your grocery needs and there’s also on-site bike servicing by donation with the guys from Bikes Please.  Plus a huge plant sale of indoor and edible plants.

There’ll be vegan baked goods from Von’s Vegan Bakehouse, Kombucha from The Good Brew Co, Baked Potatoes from Carmel Hill Farm and a bbq raising funds for the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.

I look forward to seeing you on Saturday September 24th, 12pm-4pm
at Saxon St Community Garden, 33 Saxon st Brunswick.

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On Food & Memory

~ rashatayeh

In what ways does food, eaten by individual bodies, feed collective memory?

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this question while researching the anthropology of food.

On Food & Memory is the title for my next exhibition at Footscray Community Arts Centre in Melbourne this coming June.  The show will explore food and memory by documenting intimate stories about food histories and traditions shaping people’s memories.

Memories hold significance on a deeply personal level, and at the same time, construct the rich tapestry of social life. In this audio-visual exhibition, I’ll be looking at how food is connected to culture and identity, how it is used in rituals and how it forms sensory memory.

On Food & Memory invites you to celebrate food, culture and culinary history in a nostalgic reflection on foods remembered, secret recipes and family traditions.

Opening: Saturday 18th June 2016, 2-3:30pm

Exhibition: 16th June – 2nd July 2016

Venue: Gabriel Gallery at Footscray Community Arts Centre