Sinology Notes · Sept Edition · A Little Artwork for Your Table
Saturday 12/09/2026
Spring is arriving quietly in Perth. The mornings are lighter, the air a little warmer, and there is a feeling that something is opening up again.
September brings Mid-Autumn Festival - one of China's most beloved celebrations, and the inspiration behind this month's workshop. A time to gather, sit together, and make something for the table. This month, we're working with enamelled colour and metal wire, inspired by an ancient imperial art form that once belonged exclusively to the Forbidden City.
This Sept: make your Cloisonné Enamel coaster and celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival
Mid-Autumn Festival is one of China's most cherished celebrations - a time to gather, share mooncakes, and sit together under the fullest moon of the year. This September, we're marking the occasion by making something for exactly that moment. Inspired by the ancient Chinese art of cloisonné enamel, we'll spend an afternoon filling intricate patterns with rich, jewel-like colour, create enamelled coasters to bring to your table. No experience needed. We'll also enjoy tea and mooncakes.
📅 19 Sept · 2-4pm · Pobbles Cafe, Subi
🎟 Bookings are open now.
Did you know?
Cloisonné enamel, known in Chinese as Jingtailan - takes its name from the Ming Dynasty emperor Jingtai. During his reign in the 15th century the art reached its peak.
What makes it remarkable is what it once represented. Cloisonné was originally reserved exclusively for the imperial court - produced for the Forbidden City, used in ceremonial vessels, incense burners, and decorative objects of the highest order. Commoners were forbidden from owning it. What was once locked behind palace walls is now one of China's most celebrated decorative traditions.
There's more to the colour, the craft, and the history than you might expect.
Image courtesy of the Palace Museum in China.
Try this at home
On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, step outside and look at the moon.
No agenda. No phone. Just the moon. It is one of the oldest traditions in Chinese culture - reunion, the simple act of being present with the people you love under the same sky.
In ancient Chinese folk stories, the goddess Chang'e lived on the moon, accompanied by the Jade Rabbit. It's a small, faithful creature said to spend eternity grinding herbs beneath the moonlight. Look closely at the surface of a full moon and you might just make out the shape of a rabbit yourself. People have been trying for centuries.
This year, Mid-Autumn Festival falls on 25 September. Mark it in your calendar. Find a quiet spot. Look up. See what you find.
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