In partnership with London Festival of Architecture and soon to be opened Palestine House, Counterpoints’ Room for Dinner reimagines the dinner party.
Food is often intimately tied to the memories of those who have left their homes due to forced displacement and are challenged with having to forge a new life, while preserving their culture and connections to their origins. An expanded supper club, collaborative sewing project and popup store hybrid commissioned by Counterpoints Arts will see 3EIB, Palestinian artists and Hiba chefs envision a convivial space for the interdisciplinary intermingling of culture and heritage that investigates the roles of host and guest.
On the evening of Friday 28 June, a special dinner cooked by Hiba will be served amidst a collaborative sewing project by Ramallah based Nöl Collective. Guests will engage in a sensorial experience which will reframe and personalise the Palestinian experience of displacement and resistance through the eating of cuisine steeped in history against the backdrop of art, embroidery, storytelling and performance with contributions from artist Bint Mbareh, writer Sarin Hasbun and others. Doors open at 6:30pm and the dinner party will commence at 7pm.
This event is part of a weekend-long collaboration with Palestine House and 3EIB – 3EIB Presents: Room for Us. On Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th June, Palestine House will be open from 12 – 6pm.
The free, drop-in weekend programme presented by 3EIB will feature a Palestinian marketplace with home and lifestyle shop el Bustan, Palestinian independent fashion brands and Arabic literature from bookshop Maqam. View Nöl Collective’s collaborative sewing project and listen to an accompanying soundtrack born of Palestine’s rich sonic history. Play games from Culture Mocktail and enjoy food and drinks from Hiba and Saffron and Honey.
Join us for the following workshops:
Sunday, 2-3pm:
Children’s Poetry writing with Tasneim Ziyada
Saturday and Sunday, 2-5 pm:
Tatreez workshop facilitated by Susan Al-Safadi.
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Room for Dinner is for anyone who supports the Palestinian cause and presents an opportunity to imagine a microcosm of an inclusive and collective future for humanity. It is part of Counterpoints’ London Refugee Week.
Friday: All proceeds from ticket sales will go towards supporting Palestine House – backed project of supplying safe, sterilised water in Gaza.
Supported by Choose Love.
Saturday & Sunday: Free entry.
About the Collaborators:
3EIB is a platform showcasing independent fashion brands from the SWANA region founded by Dania Arafeh, a Palestinian British curator. @_3eib_
Counterpoints is a leading national organisation in the field of arts, migration and social change.
Hiba is a family-owned and run business which brings London the tastes of Palestine & Lebanon. @hibaexpress
Bint Mbareh is a sound artist focussed on the power of communal vocalising. Her research centres on Palestinian folklore and its current potential for liberatory narratives, especially in the two fields of mourning/lamentation music and music used to summon rain and to praise water resources. @BintMbareh
Sabrin Hasbun is a Palestinian-Italian transnational writer. She has always had to mediate between cultures and every day for her is a journey across borders. @SabrinHasbun
Maqam is a locally owned independent youth-led specialist bookshop and community space in London. @Maqam
Nöl Collective is a fashion label working with family-run sewing workshops, artisans, and women’s cooperatives to produce garments in Palestine. @NolCollective
Susan Al-Safadi is a writer, community organiser, tatreez artist and embroiderer, and a baker. Susan runs Saffron and Honey Bakery.
Palestine House is a new dynamic home for art, advocacy, thinking, community and conversation in the heart of London.
Choose Love does whatever it takes to provide refugees and displaced people with everything from lifesaving search and rescue boats to food and legal advice. @chooselove
London Festival of Architecture is a month-long celebration of architecture and city-making, taking place every June across London. The Festival’s mission is to open up discussions around architecture, test new ideas and uncover and promote new talent. @londonfestivalofarchitecture
Refugee Week is the world’s largest arts & culture festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary. @RefugeeWeekUK
This event is organised by Dania Arafeh, Kristine Tan and Dijana Rakovic.
Image credit: Tomasso Serra. Osama Quashoo and Meskele Sereke Mesgna with the symbolic wooden key at the heart of Palestine House.
