memories from Samah Hijawi
Memories around the kitchen table, a workshop exploring embodied memory and learning by doing, with others.
You will need:
a large kitchen (well eqipped)
time ... to talk ... write ... shop ... cook ... eat ... clean up.
pens & paper
aprons
(first pick a theme or type of recipe) Invite a group of 10 - 15 persons (an open call is more fun)
Talk with the group about the many ideas that the kitchen brings up:
it's a feminist practice
it's knowledge passed on through the mamas
it holds different concepts of time (seasons, time to shop and prepare, time to cook, time together, knowledge assimilated through time -> upsets capitalist ideas of productivity)Ask each person to write a recipe based on the theme (eg a recipe that embodies love, or to celebrate an occasion). Loosely describe is, write the ingredients. This is to give an idea rather than it being an exact recipe to follow.
Make a drawing of the kitchen it reminds you of and write a story related to it.
As a group decide which recipes you want to make.
Shop together. Cook. Share the meal. Clean up.
Recipes from cookbooks don't carry women's knowledge and they are missing the ingredient of love.
At home, call a family member and ask if they kept a cookbook ... cherish this ... otherwise make one ... with a friend or a parent or sibling
"I Know How Many Spoons You Have" by Khalid Kaso
After more than nine months, I finally got a chance to enter the kitchen. As an asylum seeker living on a boat, I am not allowed to enter the kitchen, and I admit I miss cooking a lot. So, when I heard about Choreographies Around the Kitchen Table, I didn't hesitate to participate because a place where I can make food is where I feel at home.
I appreciated that the workshop started with a simple introduction, allowing us to get to know each other and learn how to prepare za'atar. This created a safe space for me to make food alongside a multimedia artist, cook, and astrologer, Samah Hijawi, who has a PhD in Art Practice. This simple beginning made me feel comfortable and relaxed, realizing that I didn't have to come up with a complicated dish. Rather I just needed to choose something I enjoy preparing.
I enjoyed the group reading of Chapter 10, "The Nourishing Arts", from the book "The Practice of Everyday Life" by Michel de Certeau, Luce Giard, and Pierre Mayol. One line that stood out to me and some of the other participants was the first line of the chapter: “What follows very much involves the (privileged?) role of women in the preparation of meals eaten at home.” On one hand, it is unfortunate that in some parts of the world, food preparation is a gender role assigned primarily to women. On the other hand, this limitation denies men access to one of the most essential skills, a comforting activity, and a fun hobby: the art of making food. There is no joy that can be compared to making food for your loved ones and observing their expressions as they find it tasty. I find it sad that many people, especially men, for various reasons, do not have access to this heartwarming experience.
During the brainstorming and planning for the workshop related to Choreographies Around the Kitchen Table, we were asked to draw choreography that reminded us of a movement involved in preparing the dish each of us chose to make. That was a meaningful moment for me, as I recalled beautiful memories, conversations, movements, and people while drawing the choreography. I chose to make my modified version of lentil soup, as it reminded me of my days in the dorms, hosting friends, preparing food, sitting around the table, sharing stories, and having fruitful conversations while enjoying our warm soup on cold winter days.
We also shared sayings from our cultures that revolve around food! My favorite was a Korean saying that illustrates how well you know someone: “I Know How Many Spoons You Have”. In my area, in Iraq, where life is not as fast paced as it is here in the West and where people have more time for socializing, a simple meal can be a good reason to visit someone and stay in their house for hours. This saying was a kind reminder of the significance of food in strengthening our relationship. I remember going to another village whenever my aunt made dolma. I miss the times when I would go a whole week without having lunch or dinner at home. That was because as I would walk back home, I was always welcome to enter any of the neighborhood houses and join them for a meal, whether it was the house of an uncle, aunt, cousin, or neighbor. I knew definitely how many spoons they had. Once we started cooking, I was jumping and dancing in the kitchen while making my favorite soup for the first time in over a year. It was such a delightful evening to gather around tables, sharing food from different cultures and getting to know new people. I was so happy that our guests enjoyed the food and the event. Furthermore, I am thankful that I got the chance to participate because, after seeing how much I enjoyed the workshop and the process of preparing food, the people who run Dokhuis welcomed me to use their kitchen whenever I want to cook.
Notations of two people in a small Dutch kitchen built in the 1950's, from amy & Clara
The smallest room in our apartment is the kitchen, it is the space in which we most regularly spend time together. In the mornings we talk about what we have dreamt, what we will be doing during the day and in the evenings while making dinner we come together again to reflect on what the day has made us experience. It is also often the space in which we catch up when we both have been travelling and give each other updates on where we are at the moment.
Having spent time in large kitchens before this one, our bodies are learning new choreographies in this space. It is setting structure for us to have more intimate collaborative movements, unspoken allowances, and physical listening; if you stretch, I duck, if I reach, you take a step back, we take turns bending and twisting.
We made notations from listening to one another recalling an activity in the kitchen.
Activity 1; Making breakfast on a Saturday morning
Activity 2; Making falafel on a Friday evening
