Open Table

Open Table is a creative performative dining experience. I host a shared meal of food I've prepared with a table of invitees, with local sustainably sourced food that we plate and eat together. Over the meal I share performative texts that I've written and conversational questions and prompts, for example; what flavours stir up memories? What about cooking/eating/food brings you joy? What will we eat in the future? Each of these prompts is paired with a dish and piece of creative writing that encourages participants to open up and chat about their relationship with food, what they eat and why, and how to create change.

 

The aim of this work is to bring a small group of strangers together over a meal and encourage them to create a temporary open forum to share their stories and questions about the present and future of food in our lives, and perhaps imagine alternative food systems. I gently guide and facilitate these discussions, but my aim is for it to be a relaxed and creative experience, with good food and interesting discussions. This project is a work in progress, first developed in residency with Take Me Somewhere at Tramway in Glasgow.