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The collective dinner experiment was a storytelling & documentary night in 2013 in Cairo, Egypt, which employed Art of Hosting ideas and practices to share histories. Guests were invited to bring a dish to a shared meal that responded to the following prompt “This ingredient/dish is very special to me. It is rooted in place, time, and context, and I would like to share that history with you through food, conversation, and documentation.” Maybe it was an ingredient that reminded them of home or family, a recipe taught to them from a special person or community, a dish that marked a certain time or place in their lives. Food & company can be an exploratory place, a comforting place, a place of identity and of marking time.

Throughout the night, we invited not only stories, but collaborative documentation of the evening. Materials were provided to draw, write, record, and document in many ways the happenings of the night, which manifested in sketches, poems, quotations, paintings, and drawings. It is possible that the collective dinner experiment will travel to other cities, each dinner evolving to fit the city, space, and dynamic of guests, becoming a sort of living, collaborative documentary of food, history, connection, tradition, and the spirit of sharing.


CAIRO // 28 MAY, 2013
menu of place & gift
red shrimp chowder :: new england/new york :: father
ratatouille :: france :: grandmother
asparagus with boiled egg & pecorino :: germany :: grandmother
yogurt with honey & nuts :: chicago :: mother
wacky cake :: maine/germany :: mentor

photos: Simone Tiesinga-Poutnik