The Tea Lover

„If we ever feel in the morning that coffee has saved our life, let us remember that tea helps us save our soul." – Marie Brožová

Marie had her very first art exhibition in 1998 at Dobrá čajovna (The Good Tea House) on Wenceslas Square in the heart of Prague. Aleš Juřina, the founder of this iconic establishment, placed his trust in her when she was still a completely unknown artist. He followed her career from afar and, in 2020, supported the publication of her book The Tea Decameron, which was loosely inspired by this wondrous place where time has stood still since the 1990s.

"The 1990s were my 'tea-drinking era.' In the Czech Republic, tea houses emerged as a unique cultural phenomenon, offering a magical alternative for those of us who didn’t enjoy hanging out in smoky pubs. They smelled divine, the quiet atmosphere invited long conversations, and the tea never dulled the intellect or the imagination. Back then, you could find a tea house in almost every major town. When Martin and I set out on our honeymoon around the Czech Republic in the scorching summer of 2000—driving our vintage Škoda without air conditioning—we journeyed from one tea house to the next like a desert caravan moving from oasis to oasis. Although many of those tea houses have disappeared since then, the love for good tea has remained with many of us."

Marie has hosted numerous exhibitions in tea houses over the years. She fondly remembers her shows at the Dobrá čajovna in the historic town of Kutná Hora, as well as the Klopačka tea house in the picturesque mountain town of Banská Štiavnica in Slovakia.