Bryan Mulvihill “aka Trolley Bus”
Born: 1950, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Bryan Mulvihill has studied calligraphy since his youth under many great masters including, Llyod Lee, Bau-Xi Huang of China, Hakuin Roshi, Shinzan Miyamae Roshi and Shiko Kataoka Sensei of Japan. Bryan studied `Calligraffiti’ techniques and philosophy with Brion Gysin, the founder of `Cut-Up’ techniques and a major figure in the Beat Art Movement, in Paris from 1979 until Brion died in 1986. Bryan works with Buddhist traditions of calligraphy in a contemporary art method of `CUT-UP’ and `Permutation’ to create multiple layered works while keeping a deep respect for the long tradition of ‘Way of the Brush’.
EDUCATION
1969-72 - University of British Columbia, Vancouver
BFA, Fine Arts; Asian and Modern Art History, Buddhist Studies.1973-79 - British Museum, London
Reader and Research Fellow, Tibetan and Trans-Himalayan collection.1974 - Library and Archives of the Dalai Lama, Dharmasala, India
Research Fellow; Tibetan Cultural and Ritual Traditions.1980-82 - University of British Columbia, Vancouver
Fine Arts; Buddhist Iconography in West Coast North American Art.1983-84 - Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
Center for the Arts; Electro Acoustic Recording and Computer Sound Studies under composer Martin Bartlett.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
1985 - Banff Centre for the Arts, Banff, Canada
Artist-in-Residence; Development of Artists Archives ‘Image Bank’.1985-87 - IDEA International Development Education through Art, Ottawa, Canada
Officer for Western Canada and Asia.1986-89 - Chitrabani, Center for Media Arts, Calcutta, India
Artist in residence; developed exhibitions and Media Arts Studies.1986-92 - Indian Association for Canadian Studies
Fellow; developing Video and Media Arts Studies in Baroda, India.1985-present - Urasenke School of Tea, Kyoto, Vancouver Branch
Japanese Tea Ceremony study and presentation.1989-present - OPERA Organization for Pan-cultural Exchange and Realization of Art, UNESCO, Montreal
Artistic advisor for the Development of exhibitions and cultural exchanges.1992 - Banff Centre for Arts
Artist-in-residence, Media Lab.1999-present - CORE, Cooperative Artist Live Work Studio, Vancouver
Board of Directors and International Exchange Officer.2008 - Elected Life Member of World Tea Union, Gimhae, South Korea.
Exhibition History
1969-1981 - Mary Frazee Gallery, Vancouver; various exhibitions.
1971-78 - Image Bank Correspondence Art Mail Lists; international mail art projects.
1975-88 - Lalit Kala Academie of Art, New Delhi; solo and group shows.
1985 - Solo exhibition of "Calcutta Shadows" at Chitrakoot Art Gallery, Calcutta; travelled to CCA Gallery, New Delhi.
1992 - Solo exhibition at Banff Centre for the Arts, Walter Cameron Gallery.
1993 - Solo exhibition "Shadow Calligraphitie" at Oboro Gallery, Montreal.
1998-99 - Surrey Art Gallery; "Digital Identities" Photo Exhibition.
2000 - Richmond Art Gallery; Photo Exhibition; London Biennial participation.
2002 - Museum of Installation Art, London; "Living Tea Portraits Salon".
2004 - Horniman Museum, UK; artist in residence and exhibition curator.
Autumn 2006 - Liverpool Biennale; "World Tearoom" for Liverpool Museum of Man.
2008 - Calligraphitie and WTP events at Calcutta Art Fair and Delhi Art Fair.
July 2009 - Naked Lunch@50 Exhibition, University of London, Paris; Permutated Calligraffiti based on Burroughs/Gysin Archives.
February 12 - March 21, 2010 - Vancouver Winter Olympics Cultural Olympiad, World Tea Party at Vancouver Centre for Contemporary Asian Art.
Link to Centre A
Link to Bright LightSeptember - October 2010 - Brewers Art Group, London, UK; Calligraffiti at Lauderdale House Gallery, Highgate Borough.
November 2010 - Liverpool Biennale 2010, Blue Coat Gallery; Bed-In Project homage to John Lennon and Yoko Ono, City of Liverpool, UK.
November 2010 - Russian Center for Culture and Science Gallery, New Delhi, India; Calligraffiti exhibition.
August 27-30, 2013 - European Beat Studies Exhibition, University of Aalborg, Denmark; Exhibition of Cut Up Calligraphy and Conference.
September 8-15, 2013 - International Buddhist Forum, New Delhi; Exhibition of New Spiritual Calligraphic Works at Hyatt Hotel Gallery.
December 14, 2013 - January 2, 2014 - Bait Muzna Gallery, Muscat, Oman; Works exhibited, Artist in Residence.
March - April 2014 - Sharjah 6th Calligraphy Biennial; Artist in Residence, Public Garden Calligraphy Mural Installation and Live Performance in Sharjah, UAE.
June 2014 - DOG House Artist in Residence at Art Bank, Tokyo.
June 2014 - Arita Ceramics Artist in Residence, Saga Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan; Tea research and public tea gatherings in historical porcelain kilns.
September 2014 - LAMO; Ladakh Arts and Media Organization; Installation of Himalayan Calligraffiti, artist in residence, workshops for Ladakhi artists in Leh.
November 21-24, 2014 - Inner Path Festival of Buddhist Art and Culture at Alliance Francaise & Korean Cultural Centre, New Delhi.
November 12 - December 2, 2014 - Korean Cultural Centre, New Delhi; Contemporary artists working on handmade Korean Hanji paper.
May - June 2015 - Hear/Mind Way exhibition and artist in residence at Oboro Gallery, Montreal.
July - August 2015 - Tea Zen exhibition and festival at Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden Gallery and Visual Art Space Gallery (2 exhibition venues) in Vancouver.
November 7 - December 12, 2015 - Reflections, Memorial Exhibition of Daniel Dion at Oboro Gallery, Montreal; Floating Teahouse design and manifestation of Chawan Kasari tea ceremony for Daniel Dion.
January 15-21, 2016 - Chawan Kasari for Robert Filiou’s Art Birthday project at Lamont Young Transcendence Music Manifestation, Artist in Residence, performances and World Webcasts, Tokyo Art Lab, Tokyo, Japan.
June 7 - July 10, 2017 - The Word is Art, Contemporary Art Gallery, Helsinki, Finland.
June 2018 - Tea and Calligraffiti manifestations for the Agha Khan 60th Anniversary
World Tea Party (WTP) Overview
WTP is an interactive, trans-cultural art tea salon that has evolved over two decades into a multimedia public environment. It celebrates diverse cultural traditions associated with tea, a universal beverage that embodies social interaction.
Website: www.worldteaparty.com
Record of Activities and Public Presentations
Winter 1992-3 - Banff Centre for the Arts, Nomads Residency; Interactive Video Tea Archives development of video and sound archives over 4 months.
May 1 - June 26, 1993 - National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; World Tea Party / Salon de The Mondale in collaboration with Daniel Dion and Su Schnee, serving 250,000 people. Curated by Jean Ganion.
Spring 1997 - Mohile Parikh Center for Visual Arts, Bombay; World Tea Party Video Archives.
June - October 1995 - Transcultural Pavilion, Venice Biennial; tearoom installation celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Biennial. Curated by Namjo Fumio, Dania Ashley-Fillis, and Apinan Poshyananda.
Autumn 1995 - Presentation House Gallery, North Vancouver; World Tea Party installation curated by Karen Love, featuring diverse programming and bringing together 37 public collections of tea utensils.
1995 - Media Park, Köln Art Fare; World Tea Party installation curated by Casino Container with live web and television broadcasts.
May 1999 - Pan-Asian Tea Party at Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden, Vancouver, in celebration of Asian Heritage Month.
1999 - First Garden Tea Party at Saint Norbert Art and Culture Centre, St. Norbert; Garden Tea Party with Native Musicians and performance art events.
July 18 - 30, 1999 - World Tea and Sympathy at Plug In Gallery, as part of the official cultural program of the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg. Curated by Wayne Baerwaldt.
October 1999 - World Tea Party with Chinese Seniors at Roundhouse Gallery, Vancouver, in collaboration with Gathering Threads Exhibition curated by Elizabeth Kidd.
October 9 - 17, 1999 - World Festival of Sacred Music Tea Parties, Los Angeles; tea trolley presentations throughout the festival, including a tea for 17,000 at the Hollywood Bowl with the Dalai Lama as chief guest.
November 19, 1999 - January 30, 2000 - Digital Identity: Transforming Communities at Surrey Art Gallery; an interactive installation with community tea portrait archives.
2000 - Asian Heritage Festival; a series of tea gatherings including Japanese tea ceremony at Nitobe Japanese Garden and events at Dr. Sun Yat Sen Chinese Garden.
July 2000 - Music Village, London, UK; Sacred Voice Festival with daily tea events.
February - March 2001 - Tokyo Tate: Artist in Residence at Tate Gallery, Tokyo; development of "Tokyo-London Live Tea Party" project.
2001 - 2004 - University of Victoria; three-year research project on Tea History in British Columbia.
Summer and Autumn 2001 - Performance Art in Vancouver Festival, Gallery Gachet; 'Communitea' events.
October 26, 2008 - All Souls Day Tea Party at Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver; included a Japanese Buddhist Tea Ceremony and Traditional Kwakwa’ala Offering Ceremony.
February 12 - March 21, 2010 - BRIGHT LIGHT Public Art for a Midwinter Celebration in Vancouver; series of live transmissions and public projections of WTP archives.
April 1 - May 18, 2009 - WTP Tea Room for OBORO@25 at Oboro Gallery, Montreal; Artist in residence with celebrations for the 25th anniversary.
June 2009 - WTP for Boussan Centre D'Art, Aurgnic, Haute de Perenye, France.
Publications
World Tea Party - Catalogue published by Presentation House Gallery (1997).
Link to catalogueWorld Tea Party: Victoria - Catalogue published by WTP and Community-University Research Alliance, Department of History in Art, University of Victoria (2004).
Divyesh Bhanderi & Bryan Mulvihill’s World Tea Party - Royal Academy Schools Gallery, Hornsey, London, UK. Essay by Guy Brett, Edited by Michael Petry. Published by MOCA London in conjunction with the Royal Academy Schools Gallery (3 August – 24 September 2006).
Link to Royal Academy Schools Gallery
Link to University of Victoria projectCBC Radio 3 - Interview and coverage featuring the artist (2004).
Link to CBC Radio 3CBC Richardson’s Round Up - September 22, 2004; Bryan Mulvihill, Vancouver artist, joins Tetsuro Shigematsu for a tea ceremony. Audio 18:39 min.
Link to Richardson's Round UpDevyesh Bhanderi & Bryan Mulvihill - World Tea Party, Royal Academy Schools Gallery, Hornsey, London, UK. Essay by Guy Brett, Edited by Michael Petry. Royal Academy of Arts. ISBN 0-9552577-3-5.
Link to Royal Academy Schools Gallery