The Dinner Party

The outcome of our AcrossRCA project is the documentation of a scene that symbolises each of our disciplines and how we took care of each other throughout the project. 

Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party was a key jumping-off point from the beginning. A pivotal piece of art from the 70s, the table she created was not about actual food but rather about starting a conversation. The table settings for the “guests” symbolised their contributions and omission from traditional art narratives. The work was made with the assistance of numerous volunteers. Textiles and ceramics, which had been disregarded as craft or domestic art, as opposed to more male-dominated fine arts, were celebrated at the table. Another influence was AcrossRCA keynote speaker Roman Kzarnic. During his time at the Oxford Muse, his Conversation Meals, Feast of Strangers, and Portrait of Oxford projects created conversations that promoted empathy and built community trust and mutual understanding in the city.

With this — and all of our practices — in mind, we arrived at a way of showing care that feels familiar to all of us: through a shared meal. We each had experiences of care tied to eating and being gathered around a table, but we decided that the act of gathering and sharing mattered more than the food. 

The Dinner Party was a celebration of sharing, aesthetics, making, coming together, and care — in all its definitions. Our approach was one of creative delicacy, a tenderness of making, and a touch light enough that allows others to do the same. Each of us created something for the group we were proud of, so when we came together, it was easy to put them all on the same table, in the same light.