Am Tisch. Essen und Trinken in der zeitgenössischen Kunst

In the organizer's words:

We associate rituals, rules and traditions with eating and drinking - they create community, but can also exclude. Whether on the carpet, at the bar or out and about: how, where and with whom we eat says a lot about social structures. The exhibition "At the table. Eating and Drinking in Contemporary Art" brings together eight artistic positions that approach cultural, social and gender-specific issues - and invite us to take a fresh look at eating as a unifying practice.

Between counter, tea ceremony and fragrant dessert

Several works were created in collaboration with city dwellers, such as "A Painting For A Family Dinner" by Alina and Jeff Bliumis. The artist couple invited Dortmund families to dinner - in return, they received a painting. A joint photo was always taken afterwards. The resulting "family portraits" tell of hospitality, exchange and artistic interaction.

Marie Donike and Johannes Specks also explore everyday culinary practices. Their work "Kulisse" focuses on pubs as social spaces. In the exhibition space, there is a bar sculpture whose shape is reminiscent of the U on the roof of the building - a reference to the building's former use as a brewery. The sculpture is occasionally activated during the exhibition period: This is when the artists slip into the role of landlords and invite visitors to the participatory "Hopfen und Malz" ("Hops and Malt") event.

With her installation "Until our tea strainer gets dry", Iden Sungyoung Kim creates a living room-like atmosphere in which conversations can be heard via headphones with artists whose parents came to Germany as guest workers from South Korea and Vietnam. The Korean tea ceremony symbolizes questions of memory, migration and belonging.

Narges Mohammadi also actively involves local people. Her installation "Passing Traces" consists of 700 kilograms of halva - a fragrant dessert that is often served on religious occasions in Arabic- and Persian-speaking countries, especially at mourning ceremonies. Halva is reminiscent of loss and farewell - themes that are also reflected spatially in the work: Empty spaces in the form of furniture appear in the walls of the installation - imprints of the furniture from that refugee accommodation in the Netherlands where Mohammadi lived with her family after fleeing Afghanistan.

Accompanying program invites visitors to join in

An education room with AI hands-on stations invites visitors to get creative. Guided tours, workshops and communal cooking evenings complete the program.

A creative booklet is available in the exhibition for families with children , inviting them to playfully discover with all their senses. The "imperfect menu" encourages visitors to record their impressions and put together their own dinner - from dessert to starter.

Catalog note

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog for the series "A Painting For A Family Dinner" by Alina and Jeff Bliumis. For the first time, the publication brings together all previous project locations - including Bat Yam, the Bronx, Beijing, Lecce, Tokyo and Dortmund - with photographs of the dinners, recipes and background information. It shows how the artistic practice of eating together creates new perspectives on cities and social relationships. The catalog is available for 25 euros on site at the exhibition space or online at verlag-kettler.de .

he exhibition features works by Alina and Jeff Bliumis, Marie Donike and Johannes Specks, Mona Hatoum, Zhanna Kadyrova, the Mariana Castillo Deball class at the Kunstakademie Münster*, Narges Mohammadi and Iden Sungyoung Kim.

* Participating artists:
Mashal Atai, Merle Borgmann, Wilma Marie Clavecilla, Tuğba Durukan, Katrin Fischer, Yeri Kang, Suyeon Prana Kim, Hannah Kons, Jakob Mönch, Dewi Amelia Platz, Philip Sawicki, Henri Schlößer, Joshua Karan Singh,
Eva Sofia Margareta Sjöström, Chris Sudmann, Dennis Zascerinskij