‘Masa Para Ofrenda’ was the first dinner experience designed in collaboration with food designer Verónica González from Tijuana, B.C., Mexico. We wanted to explore a new culinary language and choreography, testing common perceptions of what a ‘dinner’ or a shared meal can, a dinner where everyone is encouraged to be active participants in the meal. Part dinner, part performance, part ritual, Masa Para Ofrenda forged connections between art, food and design and played with the potentialities that may emerge within this ‘contact zone’. No cutlery was used at all during the four stage experience, hands were used to create the meal, to serve and to eat and were cleansed between stages in a herbal bath with camomile, ruda, cilantro, lime, pomegranate and flowers.
I presented this dinner as a part of my creative research at Pocoapoco Artist Residency in Oaxaca where researched and experimented with collectively made ‘food experiences’, exploring the ritualistic nature of cooking and collaborative ways of preparing and creating meaningful experiences around locally produced food. How can the simple act of sharing a meal become a transformative experience? How can we change food from mere fuel to into powerful objects with transformative powers?
