Our second artists dinner of the year was quite a different to the first, yet an equally enjoyable experience!! Instead of select individual presentation, we were more organic this time and shared our news either with the entire group, or with our end of the table throughout the course of the dinner … it was informal, so warm, relaxed and fun, and at times pleasantly intense.
Our conversations centred much around contentious and frequently discussed themes of our times: human rights, gender equality and gender based violence, the labour market, forced migration and as last time, food.
We heard about Mercy Obade‘s music and events project she is starting in Kenya which aims to empower people who are vulnerable targets for human traffickers, by giving them employment and creating awareness about the issues … she feels passionately that more work needs to be done at the source. Sune shared with us an action his daughter is a part of which is calling one of the leading universities in the country to account over their institutionalised discriminatory practices. Dorthe spoke about and showed us pictures of her amazingly creative stone sculpture project. Deep told us a little about the articles he is working on at the moment pertaining to the apauling situation in Ghouta, Syria. He is basing his articles on first hand information from citizens inside the area and thus aiming to give a more nuanced picture of the atrocities and the outcomes thereof that are occurring.
We talked a great deal about food and had a delightful menu which guided many of those conversations: from the story about the deer in the freezer that needed to make room for the two moose, to the presentation of a non-fiction book being written where each chapter ends with a recipe, to the heart-warming and heart-felt food memories of several people at the table … we truly indulged our senses throughout the evening.
We started off with the best samosas in Copenhagen which Mercy brought to the table. Tina was inspired by her Indian heritage and introduced us to a type of flatbread called Koki (here is a recipe for you, but Tina used chick pea flour instead of wheat and added onion, garlic and brocoli). At the salad bar there were three options. Mine was perhaps the least elaborate: a mixed cabbage and tomato salad with a pomegranate vinegar dressing. We then had a deliciously simple guacomole made by Claudia and a “South African” Salad” made by Sez … do try out the recipes from both Claudia and Sez below. Our hot food consisted of a delicious Iranian vegetarian dish made by Arash, a tasty deer stew from Dorthe, and my other humble contriution of potato wedges.
And for dessert, we were treated to one scrumptious chocolate cake courtesy of Sune (and Lagkagehuset) and another scrumptious chocolate cake courtesy of Charlie (homemade) … we almost finished the both!! It was a really fantastic evening!!
… we have a lot going on over the next few weeks including a trip to Berlin to take part in our first (scientific) research-based action which is very exciting. I shall present IMMART, some of the projects we have completed, some reflections from artists, gallery owners and other we have collaborated with, and touch a little on how cultural difference and cultural similarity have surfaced in the making of IMMART. We will also be very busy making the final preparations for Raining Poetry Nørrebro (#RPN), so we decided to have the next dinner a little later in April.
Charlie, Tina and I look forward to seeing you at our next IMMART Artist Dinner which will be held at 17:00 on 22 April 2018 at Global Art Gallery in Vanløse. You can register already here, and the Facebook invite with more details about the evening will follow shortly.
Have a fantastic week ahead!!
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THE STORY BEHIND THE SOUTH AFRICAN SALAD … and the recipe of course, by Sez (AKA Sarah-Jayne Kristiansen):
Sauce:
Heat oven to 200 degrees and roast pumpkin with skin on for 45 minutes. Prepare a large bowl with freshly washed spinach leaves. On a low heat, roast nuts together on a large skillet pan. Remove when they start to brown and put aside. Make the sauce by blending all the ingredients together and set aside. When the pumpkin is cool to the touch, remove skin and dice into small squares. Toss pumpkin in the large bowl of spinach leaves and drizzle sauce making sure evenly spread. Add nuts to the top of the salad and serve immediately.
