Many Names. One Edmonton.
Poster transcript
Different words. Distinct histories. A shared cup.
茶 · tea · thé · çay · شاي · चाय · 차 · お茶 · chai · чай
Selected common forms; pronunciation and usage vary by region.
Historical background
Words such as cha, tea, and chai are often used to sketch routes of language and trade. They are useful clues, not a complete map. Similar words can move along different routes, change meanings, and enter languages more than once.
Curator’s interpretation
Edmonton speaks tea in many languages. The poster does not collapse those languages into one origin story. It holds distinct histories beside one another and asks what sharing can mean without erasing difference.