The Idea of Freudian Bites, Commensality & The Importance of Sharing A Table
How a simple format of inviting artists each month around a table can bring togetherness, sharing of ideas and a meal together...
The end of last year wasn't the easiest for me for several reasons, but mainly because of a lot of uncertainty. I couldn't quite understand how to implement what I had learned from my new Anthropology of Food degree in my curatorial practice. Going back to studying after 10 years was daunting. So was learning new knowledge and skills. Finally, it occurred to me that I didn't have to think so rigidly, and I could experiment. As creatives, we tend to forget to play when we are hyper-focused on how to self-sustain and worry about the external world. Freudian Bites, which has a playfulness in its name, came from my urge to cook more and bring people together. From my past as a founding director to a not-for-profit organisation where I championed multidisciplinary practitioners, I still had the urge to do something but in a more intimate, smaller format where I could still explore new ideas and collaborate.
As the host to Freudian Bites, I don't claim to be a chef as I hold no certificate. However, I am a passionate home cook with experience in charity kitchens as a volunteer. So what is Freudian Bites? Is it very psychoanalytic? What's it got to do with Anthropology? I saw the format as a curated, intimate dining experience with a guest artist to create dialogues and digest ideas. Because these supper club series occur in my domestic setting, the maximum capacity is eight people at my table. These bite-sized meals with four modest courses starting at £45 per person (depending on the artist and context) aim to provoke ideas and test the senses. Freudian Bites isn't only a play on psychoanalysis but adds a playful twist by creating a gathering space for creativity, nourishment, and generating ideas. It is also a space to host, observe, cook, and bring people from different backgrounds under one roof for creative expression. As for the anthropological approach, from a social sciences point of view, with me acting both as the host and the observer throughout the evening, the dining experience becomes more than just a place to share meals; it is a social, cultural space for exchange.
For the first iteration of the supper club, I invited Lucia Pizzani, a long-term collaborator and a Venezuelan-born London-based artist. Lucia's artistic practice involves the body and self, always informed by materiality. One of her core concerns is the interrelationship between narratives of women in history and processes of metamorphosis in the natural world. She works across a variety of media - including photography, ceramics, videos, drawings, performances and installations. Having worked as part of the environmental movement in Venezuela for many years, she has always incorporated ecological elements into her artwork. Pizzani’s physical environment often provides her with both the inspiration, and physical materials, for her work. This has had a particular importance during recent artists in residencies she has done abroad. Through my curated menu, I hope to do her work justice and mediate her work to the audience at the dinner table. To give a teaser, please find below the sample menu for the event for next Friday.
For more information on Freudian Bites and to sign up for future events please sign up to my Substack and or write to kabakcihuma@gmail.com and I will try to get back to you!