Charlie and I set the table at around 5pm and shortly afterwards Tina arrived. We had a cheeky glass of wine together to toast the first Artist Dinner of 2018. We also toasted to our new partnership as the “Board” of ImmigrantART and to an ever-so-smooth and effortless team ‘effort’ in organising our first event together.
Prior to arriving, our guests had received an email of the guest list and a task: each person had to track down another (whose name was given to them in the email), find out all about them, and then at some point during the evening, present that person to the rest of us. It was a great way for everyone to mingle, change places around the dinner table throughout dinner and simply chat. Our invitation said 18:00 to 21:00 … we managed 18:00 to 23:00! It was great!
Although people did actually start to arrive at 18:00, we got off to a late start with the program because of problems on the Metro. But the wine / soft drinks were flowing, snacks were there and everyone arrived in good spirits so it made no difference at all – it was Friday night!
We enjoyed food from different corners of the world, a lentil and chicken curry, a mixed quinoa salad, a feta cheese bake, arepas colombianas, vegetable pie, chickpea salad, a Mexican chicken dish, a lemon tarte and lots of other sweet delights! It was a great spread!
The presentations everyone made about each other were fascinating … I am a social scientist and very interested in human relations so I observe behaviours and actions sometimes from a helicopter position, but at the same time I get completely mesmorized by both watching and listening to people speak … I loved the diversity in the presentations – the way people spoke about one another greatly reflected their own personality, as well as the sense of collegiality and I would go so far as to say warmth and friendship that had been established in an incredibly short space of time.
And then our guest speakers and performers … what can I say … they blew us away!
I had never heard of a melodica before and my Google search was so superficial that I only grasped what it looked like. As such, I was surprised to find out that it is in fact a wind instrument. Nadia is a great painist and so I was excited to hear how she would tackle the melodica … she tackled it well! The sound matched perfectly to Lucia’s amazingly powerful voice and charming performance.
Michael spoke passionately not only about the idea behind his festival, which happens in summer each year but also about its history and why it came about. Having taken part in the festival last year, as did other members of the ImmigrantART network, I felt the need to express just how comfortable and stimulating the whole experience was. As Michael expressed himself, this is really a festival in which the audience participates in and doesnøt simply view.
Pauline shocked (in a very positive way) many with her performance of “Who owns the poem” as the physical aspect of the performance seemed to be a stark contrast to the personality we encountered during the introduction round … I enjoyed this work for the different layers that there were/are to it, and also for how thought provoking the poetry was in itself.
I strongly encourage you to watch and listen to these amazing contributions to the evening by clicking on the links under the images above. You can also read more about the projects and profiles of these and other artists who attended the dinner below.
I am pleased to share that we have confirmed the date for the next Immart Artist Dinner … SAVE THE DATE: Friday 2 March, 2018 … we shall send out an invite soon! If you would like to present your work or make a performance please get in touch with our fabulous Charlie Brown on charlie.immart@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you soon!
Nicol
- Nadia Okrusko is a part of the collective of female musicians that focuses on female music and composers from all times, Damkapellet. The group that plays female classical and contemporary composers and does performances with improvisation. You can listen to Nadia perform on YouTube … Click here to listen to one of her concerts.
- Lucia Szabová is a mezzosoprano singer. You will have the opportunity to see her perform live in mid-April at the Royal Academy of Music in Copenhagen. Until then, visit Lucia here.
- Michael Svennevig is a writer and regular blogger. His blog about the Artist Dinner has AMAZINGLY received over 1600 hits!!! Have a read (in Danish) of At sidde til bords med hele verden. It is a little early for news about the summer festival but you can see more about last year’s happening here.
- Pauline Jupin‘s ongoing collaborative project Digtets ånd features in the magazine ALLC#10 (A Little Less Conversation). Upon purchasing an issue you will receive an envelope addressed to Pauline and have the opportunity to be part of the project. Pauline shall be exhibiting, reading and talking about the project on Wednesday 14 March at Odense Lyrik 2018.
- Victor Valqui Vidal is currently exhibiting at Stadens Museum for Kunst in Christiania. Read more about Victor here.
