After the initial workshops in 2012 we collated a publication (zine) that reflected the meetings and its process. A sample of the content below.
Contents
Compacted email Correspondence Introductory conversation Participant profiles The Table & Conversation Meals in the Kitchen Maps & Lines Acknowledgements INTRODUCTORY CONVERSATIONAmal Laala - What should be in the introduction? It should say something about gathering. Gathering people and gathering together.
Sari Kivinen – gathering around the table and the physical spaces? AL – Mmmm. Maybe it needs to have something about us explaining the project to people but explaining it from the perspective of before it happened and the speculation of what would happen. When the project is open to change and interpretation. SK – I guess then we could talk about when we first got the idea to do this project we wrote that it would be a socially engaged community project that would bring together individuals living in Helsinki (with various cultural backgrounds and of various ages) to share recipes, cook together, and effectively share life stories connected to the simple task of food-making. In reflection, whilst we did form a group and do the things mentioned above the focus wasn’t always where I thought it might have been…. AL - The process of food was really important to everyone individually. And the conversations were really constant but they were also fleeting and we couldn’t completely document them nor did we want to. SK - At this point in the project I’m thinking that there has been two distinct stages. Firstly the weekly meetings in Stoa during April and May 2012 in East Helsinki. Secondly as a process of collating a publication that reflected the meetings. But also there’s been these other mini-stages, where some of the participants have started collaborating on other things and forming friendships. AL – Yeah they really got to know each other and about different cultures. And to think, it all began with a bowl of nuts! Take as many or as little nuts as you like from the bowl, ‘say one thing about yourself for every nut you have taken’. I guess we could now more officially say that nine women from a variety of cultural backgrounds have met to prepare meals that reflected their culture. Our Cuisine=Our Stories took everyone on a journey through each others personal stories of migration. SK- and also the collective narratives have been really important, through some of the exercises we’ve been looking at our individual associations towards certain things in order to collate a combined narrative that considers our sameness and differences. This publication is in three sections to reflect the experience of the gatherings at Stoa. The first section focuses on the meals prepared in the kitchen and presents practical production. Conversations around the table is its own section which documents a snippet of the many conversations had. The third section maps participants journey’s and migration trails by exploring lines of movement and lineage. |
Forward // compacted email correspondenceLähettäjä: Amal Laala [[email protected]]
Lähetetty: 16. Lokakuuta 2012 11:04 Vastaanottaja: Hannus Petra Kopio: Sari Kivinen Aihe: A collage of emails from our contact at Stoa: Hi Sari and Amal, Thanks for your inspiring visit today. I hope we will end up doing a collaboration, one way or another. Your project sounds very interesting and important for the people in the Itäkeskus area. --- How has your project launched? Did you find participants? And the place you’ve certainly found already? It just suddenly struck me that in our Terraario-room there is a small kitchen behind one door. If you still need the space, please let me know and we’ll check if it’s free on the days you would need it. --- Yes, you can come and see the space. --- I’ve made preliminary reservations for those dates and hours. --- I’ll change the time on Mondays to 17-20. --- You can go through the place and equipment, and vahtimestari can open the door for you. --- Yes, the equipment in the kitchen is poor. --- Yes, lets meet and talk about the ending of the project. --- Do you already know when you would want to organize the meeting open to public? --- What would the launch include? I mean what kind of event would it be, what kind of space would it need? --- Do you have hygieniapassi as you are planning to have food? --- thanks for your visit yesterday. It was great to see the first version of the publication which looks very good. I was happy to see the concrete result of the project. Our cuisine = our stories –project contains the same important basic ideas that we’re hoping to achieve with our program too. To make the people participate, be creative and encounter. Whether it is through art, cooking or discussions, people meet each other, learn new things from other cultures and lose barriers. I hope we’ll co-operate with similar projects in the future too. Regards, Kind regards, Have a great weekend!, Beautiful sunny week to you both!, Have fun in Turku!, Sunshine to the starting week!, Sunshine to your week, How did it go yesterday?, Take care!, Have a great rest of the week!, Let me know what you think!, Best, I’ll be back in the afternoon!, Now I’ve got to run, Sunny rest of the week, Have a great week!, See you soon, Petra Hannus Kulttuurituottaja - Kulturproducent - Cultural producer Helsingin kulttuurikeskus / Stoa ParticipantsSiw is a Swedish speaking Finn who grew up picking wild mushrooms in the Finnish forests, which is one of her favourite foods. She works as a cultural producer, a karaoke hostess and a theatre writer.
Brishna is a caring mother, daughter and friend and currently studies and works in healthcare. Originating from Afghanistan she lived and worked in Pakistan before arriving in Helsinki four years ago. Sari grew up in a Finnish family in Brisbane Australia, Her earliest food memories involve baking Finnish style pulla with her Grandmother. Sari is an artist working mainly with performance and text. Amal is an artist interested in change with a do it together attitude. She is a world citizen from Australia, Morocco and Finland. She has just had a baby and the little ones favorite food is from the breast. Flavia is a bright and bubbly Brazilian. A family lawyer by profession with a passion for photography and food preparation for dinner parties. Evita is originally from Jakarta, Indonesia and has lived in Finland for 17 years. Evita is an entrepreneur, a mother and an expert in preparing cuisine from a variety of cultures. Pilvi is firmly rooted in Finnish culture but as an avid traveler she loves to soak up influences, culinary and otherwise, from other cultures. She is working as a primary school teacher. Pranuthi is from India. She came to Helsinki in 2006 and is a Neuroscience researcher by profession with a passion for cooking and a recent love for football. Raija is a cabin attendent from The Netherlands. She goes all over the world and tastes all kinds of food. She likes Singapore, but her favourite destination is at home in Finland, where she loves to BBQ at the mökki. |